Azhar Ali joins Pakistan's '5,000 Test runs' club

E-Paper | October 01, 2026

Azhar Ali joins Pakistan's '5,000 Test runs' club

AFP Published September 30, 2017

Azhar Ali celebrates a boundary with partner Asad Shafiq during the third day of the first Test cricket match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan. — AFP

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Consistent Pakistan middle-order batsman Azhar Ali completed 5,000 runs in the longer format during the third day's play in the first Test against Sri Lanka on Saturday.

The 32-year-old beceme the eighth Pakistan batsman to reach the milestone in his 61st Test, when he took a single to reach a personal score of 32.

Ali made his Test debut against Australia at Lord's in Pakistan's neutral venue series in England in 2010 and has since been a consistent performer with the bat.

He became the first century maker in a day-night Test during his epic triple hundred against the West Indies in Dubai last year.

He scored 1198 runs in 11 Tests in 2016, also including a fighting double hundred against Australia at Melbourne.

Younis Khan is the leading Test run-getter for Pakistan, with 10,099 runs in 118 Tests.

Pakistan batsmen who scored 5,000 or more Test runs:

Younis Khan: 10,099
Javed Miandad: 8,832
Inzamam-ul-Haq: 8,830
Mohammad Yousuf: 7,530
Salim Malik: 5,768
Misbah-ul-Haq: 5,222
Zaheer Abbas: 5,062
Azhar Ali: 5,000

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BraveHeart

Sep 30, 2017 05:35pm

He can surpass Miandad and Inzi Bhai

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Chus mera Dr. Salaria Ahmed

Sep 30, 2017 05:42pm

Just 200 runs scored in a day. Boring test match surely heading for a draw. Well Lankan fans shud be happy that after playing against India they have understood what are the bench marks of best teams in world cricket. The Lankans have been well schooled by the Indians where they were literally struggling to even catch up. Here against Pakistan they are not playing any great cricket just the quality of opposition is making them look better.

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Chuss mera Dr.Krishna

Sep 30, 2017 06:08pm

Congratulations Boss

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Anti-Corruption_Pakistani

Sep 30, 2017 07:07pm

Good achievement and showing potential for more runs, but, I don't think Azhar Ali be able to break Younis Khan's, Javad Miandad's and Inzamam's records. This is my assessment!

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Abu Bakr Saad

Sep 30, 2017 10:48pm

He has another 4-5 years left in him providing he keeps himself fit. So, that's another 40-50 test matched. At this rate, he can surpass Javed Miandad.

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LOUDSPEAKER

Sep 30, 2017 11:39pm

Congratulations Axhar... it's a big achievement. Keep it up, we expect more and more from you.

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Oct 01, 2017 12:38am

Many people disagree with me but I still maintain that the best batsman ever to play for Pakistan was Yousuf Youhana. In fact, I rate him better than Sachin. Sachio was unparalleled in longevity and keeping fit, but in pure artistry and technical class, Yousuf Youhana was number one with Rahul Dravid a close second. Its just sad how PCB dumped him. He should have been playing T20 league in India coz he was only 34 when he was unceremoniously forced to retire in 2006.

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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad

Oct 01, 2017 11:08am

Welcome to the club.

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ConcernedCitizen

Oct 02, 2017 08:10am

Please let's not compare him with the likes of Miandad or Inzimam. He is nowhere close to being in the same class. He is only scoring either in UAE or PSL since he cannot handle the pace on foreign pitches. Just because he limped towards the 5000 k we are talking about him beating the records of our legends. This is a problem we have, we tend to forget very quickly past below par performance. Also, Sarfaraz better leads from the front and start producing some runs on the board since he is constantly failing to score in all format and I am afraid that he might not be able to perform or lead like a leader. Remember, in this new era captain has to set the example otherwise, he is in no place to demand better performance from his team when his own performance below par.

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vijay,salem

Oct 03, 2017 10:45pm

Test match is real cricket and every one should applaud Azhar Ali's achievement.

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