Pakistan vs Australia, 1st Test Stats Preview: Players records and approaching milestones

Australia have made their first visit to Pakistan for a Test series in 24 years and the first game is set to kick off at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi on Friday, March 4. Pat Cummins will lead the visiting side while Babar Azam will be in charge of the hosts. The second Test will take place from March 12 in Karachi while the concluding one will be played in Lahore starting March 21. The Test series will be followed by three one-day internationals and a solitary T20I — all of which will be played in Rawalpindi.

Australia skipper Pat Cummins began his captaincy in style as the Kangaroos defeated England 4-0 in the Ashes earlier this year Down Under. Pakistan beat Bangladesh 2-0 in an away series in December 2021. Interestingly, Australia’s last Test series in overseas conditions was the Ashes 2019 in England and since then they haven’t played away from home.

A full-strength Australia side will look to start the series on a high and would hope to perform better in the tough sub-continent conditions. Cummins will be looking to lead his side as a bowler in his first away Test series as skipper. After the completion of the Pakistan Super League in February, international cricket is back in Pakistan and Azam and his side would like to challenge the mighty Aussies in a highly competitive series.

Meanwhile, here are some of the important stats and numbers ahead of the Pakistan vs Australia Test in Rawalpindi:

Head-to-Head: Pakistan and Australia have clashed in 66 Test matches with Pakistan winning 15 and losing 33. 18 Test matches ended in draw. In Pakistan, both have met each other in 20 matches with the hosts winning seven times and losing thrice. 10 games remained inconclusive.

39 – Babar Azam (2,461) needs 39 runs to complete 2,500 runs in Tests.

28 – Mohammad Rizwan (972) requires 28 runs to reach the landmark of 1,000 Test runs.

4 – Azam (296) requires four fours to reach 300 fours in Test matches.

7 – David Warner (893) requires seven fours to reach 900 fours in Test cricket.

1 – Nathan Lyon (199) needs one wicket to complete 200 wickets in away/neutral Tests.

7 – Alex Carey (93) is seven grabs away from completing 100 catches across all formats.

47 – Fawad Alam (953) needs 47 runs to reach 1,000 runs in Test cricket.

36 – Cameron Green (464) is 36 runs away from reaching 500 Test runs.

2 – Azam (98) is also two grabs away from completing 100 catches across formats.

6 – Mitchell Starc (94) requires six scalps to reach 100 wickets in away/neutral Test matches.

15 – Imam-ul-Haq (485) requires 15 runs to reach 500 Test runs.

6 – Green (44) needs six fours to complete 50 fours in Test cricket.

2 – Josh Hazlewood (348) requires two wickets to complete 350 scalps in international cricket.

63 – Usman Khawaja (4,937) is 63 runs away from reaching 5,000 runs in international cricket.

13 – Marnus Labuschagne (237) needs 13 fours to complete 250 fours in Tests.

5 – Lyon (5) needs five scalps to reach 450 wickets across formats.