Mohammad Yousuf: “As a former cricketer, I would be pleased to see my record broken by a Pakistani player, and I have no doubt that Babar Azam has the potential to break my record due to his exceptional abilities on the field”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Mohammad Yousuf, the iconic Pakistan batsman, has challenged captain Babar Azam to break his near-impossible record of the most Test runs in a calendar year.
The 48-year-old set the record when he amassed 1,788 runs in 11 Tests in 2006, which included nine centuries and three fifties, at an average of 99.33.
Azam has already rewritten the history books on multiple occasions, but if he were to surpass Yousuf’s Test feat, it would be nothing less than extraordinary.
While it will be extremely tough to do so, Yousuf acknowledged that the 28-year-old “has the potential” to do it.
“As a former cricketer, I would be pleased to see my record broken by a Pakistani player, and I have no doubt that Babar Azam has the potential to break my record due to his exceptional abilities on the field,” he told Cricket Pakistan.
Azam will now captain Pakistan in their two-Test series against Sri Lanka, which will be played in Galle and Colombo from July 16 to 28.
Pakistan Squad for Sri Lanka Test Series:Â Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (vc & wk), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Muhammad Huraira, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shan Masood