Lahore, October 12, 2025: Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam achieved a significant milestone on Sunday during the opening Test against South Africa at the Gaddafi Stadium, becoming the first Pakistani batter and eighth overall to surpass 3,000 runs in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC).
Babar reached the landmark in his 37th Test, an impressive record that includes 18 half-centuries and eight centuries since the inception of the WTC.
The elite list of players with over 3,000 WTC runs features England trio Joe Root (6,080), Ben Stokes (3,616) and Zak Crawley (3,041), along with Australian stars Steve Smith (4,278), Marnus Labuschagne (4,225), Travis Head (3,300) and Usman Khawaja (3,288).
Earlier, Pakistan recovered from the early loss of Abdullah Shafique as skipper Shan Masood and Imam-ul-Haq put on a solid 161-run stand for the second wicket. However, the hosts stumbled from 163-1 to 199-5 before Rizwan and Agha rebuilt the innings with a 109-run unbeaten partnership.
The match marks the opening encounter of the two-Test series between Pakistan and South Africa.
