Happy Birthday Javed Miandad: A look at his incredible feats
Pakistan batting legend Javed Miandad turned 63 on Friday. Miandad is arguably the greatest ever batsman produced by Pakistan. He led Pakistan's batting attack in an era wherein fast bowlers ruled the roost. Besides being an exception batsman, Miandad emerged as a match-winner across formats. His match-defining knocks powered Pakistan throughout. Let us have a look at Miandad's unique records.
In a distinguished 21-year-old international career, Mindad amassed 8,832 Test runs from 124 matches at an average of 52.57. The incredible tally includes as many as 23 tons and 43 fifties. He was Pakistan's leading run-scorer in the format until Younis Khan surpassed his feat in 2017. Miandad has also racked up 7,381 runs from 233 ODIs at 41.70.
Javed Miandad has slammed six double hundreds in Test cricket, joint-most by a Pakistan batsman with Younis Khan. The duo is followed by Zaheer Abbas (4), Mohammad Yousuf (4) and Azhar Ali (3) in the list. Interestingly, his highest score came against India in the Hyderabad Test (1983). He smashed an unbeaten 280 to torment the Indian bowling attack in the Test match.
Javed Miandad's Test batting average never went below 50 during his career. He finished at 52.57, while the lowest it reached was 51.75. England's Herbert Sutcliffe is the only other player to have achieved this feat (lowest average - 60.73, 1935).
Miandad leads the runs tally for Pakistan in the ICC World Cup as well. Having represented the nation in most number of WC matches (33), he aggregated 1,083 runs at 43.32. His 100-ball 103 led Pakistan to victory against Sri Lanka in the 1987 World Cup group stage fixture. He also played a crucial role in Pakistan's title-clinching campaign (1992).
The former Pakistan batsman had a knack of scoring runs in Test cricket away from home. Miandad tallied 4,351 runs from 64 such Tests at an average of 45.80. Notably, nine out of his 23 tons were registered in away Tests. He is the third highest run-scorer (overseas) among Pakistan batsmen, with Younis Khan (5,608) and Inzamam-ul-Haq (4820) leading the chart.
