Pakistan and Bangladesh will lock horns in the first of the two-match Test series starting today (August 21). The series is crucial for both teams looking at their standings in the World Test Championship (WTC) as they can ill afford to drop a game at this stage. For Pakistan, Babar Azam will be key as his form in Tests has been up and down for a long time now and he is also on the cusp of creating a massive record.
The former Pakistan skipper in Tests has so far scored 3898 runs in 94 innings at an average of 45.85 with nine centuries and 26 fifties. He is only 102 runs away from becoming the 12th player for Pakistan to complete 4000 runs in the format. Interestingly, once he crosses the milestone, he will join Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the elite list.
Both the Indian superstars are the only two players to have scored more than 4000 runs in all three formats of the game. Babar Azam has already breached the 4000-run mark in ODIs and T20Is and is expected to muster the 100-odd runs required to do so in the longest format in the two Test matches against Bangladesh.
For the unversed, Babar has amassed 5729 runs in 114 innings in ODIs at an impeccable average of 56.72 with 19 tons and 32 fifties. In T20Is, the 29-year-old has scored 4145 runs in 116 innings at a strike-rate of 129.08 with three centuries and 36 half-centuries.
Runs scored across formats by Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Babar Azam
| Player/Format | Tests | ODIs | T20Is |
| Virat Kohli | 8848 | 13906 | 4188 |
| Rohit Sharma | 4137 | 10866 | 4231 |
| Babar Azam | 3898 | 5729 | 4145 |
Coming back to the first Test match between Pakistan and Bangladesh, the start has been delayed due to overnight rain in Rawalpindi. Pakistan have already named their playing XI for the series opener picking an all-pace attack.
Squads
Bangladesh Squad: Zakir Hasan, Shadman Islam, Najmul Hossain Shanto(c), Mominul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Litton Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Shoriful Islam, Nahid Rana, Hasan Mahmud, Khaled Ahmed, Nayeem Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Taijul Islam
Pakistan Squad: Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood(c), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan(w), Agha Salman, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Ali, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Mir Hamza, Kamran Ghulam, Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Huraira
