Babar Inches Closer to Yousuf’s Record for Most Centuries in a Year

Babar Azam smashed yet another scintillating century in the first of two-match Test series against New Zealand in Karachi.

It was Babar Azam’s eighth century of the year, having scored four centuries in Test cricket, three in ODIs, and one in T20I.

With this, the right-hander equaled Zaheer Abbas and surpassed Pakistan’s leading Test runs scorer, Younis Khan, for most centuries in a calendar year.

Younis Khan, who has 10,099 Test runs, hit seven centuries in 2014, scoring 1,376 runs in 26 innings at an average of 56.74.

Zaheer Abbas, on the other hand, hit eight centuries in 1982 where he scored 1,612 runs at an average of 67.16 and also hit five half-centuries.

If Babar scores another century in the second innings of this match, he will equal Mohammad Yousuf’s record for most centuries in a calendar year.

Mohammad Yousuf hit nine centuries in 2006, scoring 2,435 runs at an average of 69.57 across three formats, as well as eight half-centuries.

It is worth noting that the 28-year-old batter broke Yousuf’s record for the most runs in a calendar year across three formats.