On Day 5 of the second Test against Australia in Karachi, Pakistan captain Babar Azam pulled off a remarkable accomplishment. With a brilliant innings of 196, he helped his side draw the Test and retain parity in the three-match Test series.
In the process, he set the record for the highest score in a Test match’s fourth innings. Babar’s 196 points broke the previous record of 185 set by former England captain Michael Atherton in a 1995 match against South Africa.
Babar, who is 27 years old, lost out on his first double century, but he may be happy of his effort. He batted for more than seven hours and faced 425 balls, practically offsetting 71 overs on his own. Despite having a go for 171 overs, the Aussies were unable to bowl out the hosts.
“This innings means a lot to me,” Babar Azam says.
Given the circumstances, the knock was particularly noteworthy. Babar started rebuilding alongside Abdullah Shafique after falling to 21/2 on Day 4 while pursuing a goal of 506 points. Mohammad Rizwan followed the captain after the latter fell four runs short of a century.
“This inning has a lot of significance for me since the club was in desperate need of it.” We were realistic in our pursuit. We planned to bat normally until tea, and then go for the chase if we found ourselves in a position to do so.
“However, we lost wickets, so we didn’t really think about the chase.” The game has to be saved. We may have attempted to pursue it if I had remained longer,” Babar stated after the game.
At the end of the day, the most important thing for Pakistan is that the series is still alive, and they can carry their confidence and energy into the next game in Lahore.