In the Sylhet Test against Bangladesh, Pakistan batter Babar Azam has reached a significant milestone in Test cricket, drawing level with Australia’s Steve Smith in the all-time list of most half-centuries in the ICC World Test Championship.
In the second and final Test against the Bangladesh national side, Babar Azam completed his 31st Test half-century. This innings also marked his 20th half-century in the World Test Championship, placing him jointly third in the competition’s all-time standings for fifties.
Babar, who has now reached this mark in just 39 Test matches, shares the third position with Steve Smith of Australia and England’s Zak Crawley. Only two batters are ahead of him in this ranking: England’s Joe Root and Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne.
Labuschagne leads the chart with 24 half-centuries in the World Test Championship, while Joe Root follows with 22. Babar, Smith, and Crawley are jointly placed on 20.
World Test Championship – Most Half-Centuries
| Position | Player | Team | Half-centuries |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marnus Labuschagne | Australia | 24 |
| 2 | Joe Root | England | 22 |
| 3 | Babar Azam | Pakistan | 20 |
| 3 | Steve Smith | Australia | 20 |
| 3 | Zak Crawley | England | 20 |
During the Sylhet Test, Babar played a controlled and responsible innings under pressure. However, he was unable to convert his start into a substantial score beyond his half-century. He was dismissed for 68 runs after being caught by Mushfiqur Rahim off the bowling of Nahid Rana.
The match formed part of the second and final Test between Bangladesh and Pakistan in Sylhet, where the Bangladesh national cricket team hosted the visiting side. Babar’s innings added stability to Pakistan’s batting effort, although it did not progress beyond a half-century.
This latest milestone further underlines Babar Azam’s consistency in Test cricket and his rapid accumulation of half-centuries in the World Test Championship format, achieved over a comparatively small number of matches.