Zimbabwe’s Narrowest Test Win

Zimbabwe thrashed Pakistan by 24 runs to level two Tests series 1-1 at Harare Sports Club. It was Zimbabwe’s 11^th win in 93 Test matches – all against Indian subcontinent teams that include six against Bangladesh, three Pakistan and two against India. They have lost 56 Test matches so far. Zimbabwe has now played 17 Test matches against Pakistan, winning three, losing ten and drawing four. This was Zimbabwe’s narrowest ever win and Pakistan’s narrowest ever defeat in terms of runs margin in their history. Zimbabwe’s biggest victory was also against Pakistan in 1995 by an inning and 64 runs. Ten out of eleven wins by Zimbabwe have come in Home Tests, their only Away victory was also achieved against Pakistan at Peshawar in 1998. Pakistan has now played 375 Test matches, winning 116 and losing 105 while 154 Test matches ended in a draw. Pakistan was dropped two places in ICC Tests ranking after this loss and now are placed sixth while Zimbabwe retains its position at number nine.

Pakistan’s Top 25 batsmen in Test Cricket

Pakistan’s Top 25 batsmen in Test Cricket

Misbah-ul-Haq has crawled in the list of Pakistan’s Top 25 batsmen in Test Cricket in terms of total aggregate of runs. He achieved this milestone in second inning of second Test match against Zimbabwe at Harare. Now he has scored 2583 runs in 41 Test matches. His batting average is 43.77 and has hit three centuries and 20 fifties. Misbah’s highest score in a Test inning is 161 not out against India at Bangalore in 2007. He has captained Pakistan in 22 Test matches and enjoys a batting average of 54.31 in Tests as captain. Out of 2583 runs in Test cricket, he has scored 2249 runs at batting position number 5 at an average of just under 50. Following is the list of Pakistan’s 25 Top run-getters in Test cricket: Javed Miandad 8832, Inzamam-ul-Haq 8829, Mohammad Yousuf 7530, Younis Khan 7058, Saleem Malik 5768, Zaheer Abbas 5062, Mudassar Nazar 4114, Saeed Anwar 4052, Majid Khan 3931, Hanif Mohammad 3915, Imran Khan 3807, Mushtaq Mohammad 3643, Asif Iqbal 3575, Ijaz Ahmed 3315, Saeed Ahmed 2991, Taufeeq Umar 2943, Wasim Akram 2898, Rameez Raja 2833, Aamer Sohail 2823, Wasim Raja 2821, Moin Khan 2741, Mohsin Khan 2709, Shoaib Mohammad 2705, Kamran Akmal 2648 and Misbah-ul-Haq 2583.

Younis Khan joins 7000 Test runs club

Younis Khan joins 7000 Test runs club

Younis Khan became the fourth Pakistani batsman to score 7000 runs in Test cricket when he reached 48 in the first inning of second Test match against Zimbabwe at Harare. He needed 147 innings in 84 Test matches in 13 years to reach this milestone. A total of 43 batsmen have scored 7000 runs or more in Test cricket which includes 10 batsmen each from England and Australia, 7 West Indies, 6 India, 4 Pakistan, 3 South Africa, 2 Sri Lanka and one from New Zealand. Javed Miandad holds the record for most runs in Test career for Pakistan with 8832 runs in 124 Test matches and is followed by Inzamam-ul-Haq 8829 runs in 119 and Mohammad Yousuf 7530 runs in 90 Tests. India’s Sachin Tendulkar has scored most runs in Test cricket history with 15837 runs in 198 Test matches. Younis Khan is one of three Pakistani batsmen besides Hanif Mohammad and Inzamam-ul-Haq to score a triple century in Test cricket when he scored 313 against Sri Lanka at Karachi in 2009. He is included in a list of 12 Pakistani batsmen to score a century on Test debut and has scored a Test century against all Test playing countries except Australia including five each against India and Sri Lanka. His best calendar year was 2006 when he scored 1179 runs in 11 Tests. Out of 7029 runs in Test cricket, Younis Khan has scored 3924 runs in 47 matches at number 3 batting position followed by 2301 runs in 29 matches while batting at number 4.  

Azhar Ali joins 2000 Test runs club

Azhar Ali joins 2000 Test runs club

Azhar Ali became 30^th Pakistani batsman to score 2000 runs in Test cricket when he reached 56 in the first inning of first Test match against Zimbabwe at Harare. He needed 51 innings in 28 Test matches in little over three years to reach this milestone. A total of 266 batsmen have scored 2000 runs or more in Test cricket which includes 52 batsmen from England, 51 Australia, 33 West Indies, 32 India, 30 Pakistan, 25 South Africa, 24 New Zealand, 12 Sri Lanka, 4 Zimbabwe and 3 from Bangladesh. Azhar Ali is the only batsman in 2000 Test runs club who has never played on his home soil. His 28 matches include 18 played on opponent’s soil and 10 at neutral venues. Javed Miandad holds the record for most runs in Test career for Pakistan with 8832 runs in 124 Test matches and is closely followed by Inzamam-ul-Haq’s 8829 runs in 119 Tests. Other six batsmen with more than 4000 Test runs include Mohammad Yousuf  7530, Younis Khan 6952, Saleem Malik 5768, Zaheer Abbas 5062, Mudassar Nazar 4114 and Saeed Anwar 4052. Pakistan’s 3000 Test runs club include Majid Khan, Hanif Mohammad, Imran Khan, Mushtaq Mohammad, Asif Iqbal and Ijaz Ahmed while 2000 Test runs club include Saeed Ahmed, Tuafeeq Umar, Wasim Akram, Rameez Raja, Aamer Sohail, Wasim Raja, Moin Khan, Mohsin Khan, Shoaib Mohammad, Kamran Akmal, Sadiq Mohammad, Misbah-ul-Haq, Imran Farhat, Imtiaz Ahmed, Mohammad Hafeez and Azhar Ali. Out of 2022 runs that Azhar Ali has scored in Test cricket, 1876 have been scored at number 3 batting position.

Misbah-ul-Haq is the oldest ever Pakistan’s Test captain

Misbah-ul-Haq is the oldest ever Pakistan’s Test captain

Misbah-ul-Haq Khan Niazi became the oldest ever Pakistan’s Test cricket captain on 3^rd September 2013 in first Test match against Zimbabwe at Harare. He was 39 years and 98 days old as he edged past his fellow tribesman Imran Khan Niazi who was 39 years and 43 years old on his last day as skipper of Pakistan Test cricket team on 7^th January 1992 in a three wicket win against Sri Lanka at Faisalabad. Misbah-ul-Haq is now placed 30^th in the overall list of the oldest captains to lead their country which is led by the legendary Englishman W.G.Grace who captained in a Test match at the age of 50 years and 320 days. Misbah-ul-Haq already shares the Pakistan record with Asif Iqbal for being the oldest player to make debut as captain. Both were 36 years and 168 days old when they led Pakistan for first time in Test cricket. If Misbah-ul-Haq retains his captaincy against South Africa in forthcoming ODI series, he will beat Imran Khan’s record of the oldest Pakistan captain in ODIs too. Imran Khan was 39 years and 121 days old on the victorious day of the World Cup Final at Melbourne on 25^th March 1992. Imran Khan had played 88 Test matches in his illustrious career including 48 as captain while Harare Test is Misbah’s 40^th match, 21^st as captain.