Pakistan’s highest run-getters in Test cricket: How the record changed hands over the time

Younis Khan surpassed Javed Miandad to become the leading Test run-getter for Pakistan. Bharath Seervi lists batsmen who held this record in the past and how it changed hands since Pakistan began playing Tests in 1952. 

Finally someone has broken Javed Miandad’s record of most Test runs for Pakistan. Miandad was Pakistan’s leading run-getter for about 30 years since 1985. In the first Test against England, Younis Khan went past Miandad’s 8,832 runs on October 13, 2015. He smashed a six off Moeen Ali to go past both Miandad (8832) and Inzamam-ul-Haq (8829) who were the top two run-getters previously for Pakistan.

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There was a battle between Zaheer Abbas and Miandad over the record of most Test runs for Pakistan between 1983 and 1985. Finally, on October 20, 1985, Miandad went ahead of Zaheer, and the next Test the latter’s final. Therefore, at that time there was no one near them. Zaheer finished his career with 5,062 runs in 78 Tests.

Miandad scaled new heights as the time went on with no Pakistani near his aggregate of Test runs. He ended his 18-year Test career with 8,832 runs in 124 Tests. He was the third highest run-getter in Test matches at his retirement lead by Allan Border and Sunil Gavaskar at top spots.

Pakistan began playing Tests in 1952, and the record of most Test runs changed hands several times in past —but only between six batsmen before Younis became the seventh to have this record. The table below lists the instances of record broken in chronological order in brief.

How record of most Test runs for Pakistan changed hands

–          In Pakistan’s first Test Hanif Mohammad scored 52 runs (51 and 1) and was thus the highest run-getter after that Test.

–          In Pakistan’s second Test Nazar Mohammad scored a century — Pakistan’s first in Tests — and went past Hanif. He ended his career with 277 runs in 5 Tests.

–          In the third match Hanif got back the record.

–          Between 1952 and 1958, Waqar Hasan and Hanif changed hands to the record several times.

–          Waqar finished his Test career with 1,071 runs in 1959 but Hanif moved on.

–          Hanif retired with 3,915 runs in 55 Tests in 1969. No one went past his tally for more than 20 years.

–          Majid Khan got hold of the record in 1982 going past Hanif.

–          Majid Khan scored just 16 more runs than Hanif and retired in 1983.

–          Then the record switched hands between Miandad and Zaheer several times until Zaheer retired with 5,062 runs in 1985.

Hanif held the record for 8,983 days and Miandad for 10,949 days. Till when will Younis have the record to his name? Only time will tell.

Bonus Trivia:

Younis went past Miandad’s runs tally with a six. Even Inzamam had tried to do the same in his last Test innings when he had 8,829 runs, and fell a mere 4 runs short of breaking Miandad’s record; he was stumped off Paul Harris at Lahore on October 12, 2007; we had to wait for 8 more years for another player to get there.

(Bharath Seervi is a cricket statistician who is obsessed with digging numbers, facts and records related to the game. An active member of Society of Cricket Statisticians of India, he blogs at www.cricketseervistats.blogspot.com. He can be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SeerviBharath and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SeerviCricket)