Pakistan’s star batter Babar Azam will be in action during the two-Test series against Bangladesh and the 29-year-old will have a great chance to reach a World Test Championship (WTC) milestone.
Babar, 29, has scored 2,661 runs, the most by any Pakistani, in the history of WTC and is just 339 runs away from the elusive 3000 club.
The right-handed batter could become just the fifth player to complete three thousand runs in WTC history during the Test series against Bangladesh.
England’s Joe Root has scored the most runs (4,598) in WTC history and the top five batters are all from England or Australia as the two nations play the most red-ball cricket.
Most runs in WTC history
Joe Root — 4,598 runs in 55 matches
Marnus Labuschagne — 3,904 runs in 45 matches
Steve Smith — 3,486 runs in 45 matches
Ben Stokes — 3,101 runs in 48 matches
Usman Khawaja — 2,686 runs in 32 matches
Babar Azam — 2,661 runs in 29 matches
Azam is ahead of India’s duo of Rohit Sharma (2,552) and Virat Kohli (2,235) in the list of scoring most runs in WTC history.
The Test matches between Pakistan and Bangladesh will be played as part of the WTC 2023-25 as both teams are eager to perform and strengthen their position on the WTC points table.
Squads
Pakistan: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel, Aamir Jamal (subject to fitness), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed (not in first Test), Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam (not in first Test), Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Bangladesh: Najmul Hossain Shanto (captain), Mahmudullah, Zakir Hasan, Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan. Litton Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Nazmul Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Ebadot Hossain, Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed and Khaled Ahmed.
Series schedule
1st Test: August 21 - 25 @ Pindi Cricket Stadium
2nd Test: August 30 - 4 September @ National Bank Stadium
- Babar Azam
