Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam is set to make his Test comeback, with the team set to take on South Africa in the first Test of a two-match series, starting Boxing Day. Babar was dropped from the Test team for the last two Tests against England at home, following a string of poor scores. Babar has not scored a century in any format since August last year. During that phase, he played 43 innings across formats. However, Babar will be eyeing a big milestone when the Boxing Day Test gets underway in Centurion.
Babar is just three runs away from completing 4,000 runs in Test cricket. If he gets to the milestone, Babar will become the first Pakistan batsman to score 4000 Test runs, 5000 ODI runs and 2000 T20I runs.
So far, Babar has scored 3,997 runs in 55 Test matches at an average of 54.46, with nine centuries. However, it’s been more than two years since Babar reached triple figures in Test cricket.
His last century in Test was a 161-run knock against New Zealand at Karachi in December 2022. In fact, he only scored 366 runs in 18 innings without even scoring a half-century.
Babar, however, has been recalled for the 1st Test against South Africa. He will continue to bat at no. 3 with opener Abdullah Shafique dropped from the team.
Kamran Ghulam, who scored century on his debut against England earlier this year, will bat at no. 4 in the series opener in Centurion.
Captain Shan Masood and youngster Saim Ayub will open the batting for Pakistan.
Meanwhile, pacer Mohammed Abbas will also make his Pakistan return. He last donned the whites in August 2021 against the West Indies in Kingston.
Pakistan’s XI vs South Africa, 1st Test:
Shan Masood, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Saud Shakeel, Salman Agha, Aamer Jamal, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas
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