Babar Azam becomes the leading run-scorer in Tests in 2022

On one hand, Pakistani cricket fans are raising questions about the captaincy of Babar Azam and on the other hand, Babar is answering them with the bat. He has achieved another feat on the very first day of the first Test being played between Pakistan and New Zealand at the National Bank Cricket Stadium in Karachi. He became the leading run-scorer in Tests in 2022.

In addition, Babar Azam has also broken the record of most 50+ scores in a year of former Australia captain Ricky Ponting. After the failure of the openers, Babar came on the field and scored the 27th half-century of his Test career in the Karachi Test. He has completed 1105 Test runs in 2022. By doing this feat, he left behind Joe Root in the list of leading run-scorer in Tests in 2022.

Moreover, Babar Azam has also joined the list of players who have scored 1000 runs in Tests this year. Babar, who struggled for one run in the white ball, is the sixth batsman for Pakistan to score more than 1000 runs in a year. Babar Azam finished last week's Test series against England as the only sixth Pakistani to reach 1,000 Test runs in a calendar year. The great performer holds the third-place spot in the International Cricket Council's (ICC) career-best rankings with 871 points. Babar is in third place after fellow Australians Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith, who are in first and second place, respectively. 

Only three other batters had 1,000 runs for the season prior to Babar. Joe Root of England has 1,098 runs in 27 innings, Usman Khawaja of Australia has 1,080 runs in 20 innings, and Jonny Bairstow of England has 1,061 runs in 19. 

Leading run-scorer in Tests in 2022: