- South Korea's Han Kang wins literature Nobel
- Federer lauds retiring Nadal's 'incredible achievements'
- Ikea posts fall in annual sales after lowering prices
- Australia beat China 3-1 to resurrect World Cup campaign
- Stock markets diverge, oil gains after China rebounds
- Nadal defied injury woes in record-breaking career
- Nadal v Djokovic, French Open, 2006: Chapter One in epic rivalry
- World can't 'waste time' trading climate change blame: COP29 hosts
- Pakistan at 23-1 after Brook triple hundred takes England to 823-7
- Zelensky meets Starmer, Rutte on whirlwind tour of Europe
- South Korean same-sex couples make push for marriage equality
- Rafael Nadal calls time on epic tennis career
- Mumbai declares day of mourning for Indian industrialist Ratan Tata
- Philippines confronts China over South China Sea at ASEAN meet
- Kim Sei-young shoots 62 to take two-stroke lead at LPGA Shanghai
- The haircuts that help traumatised Ukrainian soldiers heal
- Sinner crushes Medvedev to set up potential Alcaraz Shanghai semi
- 7-Eleven owner restructures to fight takeover
- England's Harry Brook blasts triple century against Pakistan
- Chinese electric car companies cope with European tariffs
- Zelensky in London for whirlwind tour of Europe ahead of US vote
- Sri Lanka recovering faster than expected: World Bank
- Hong Kong, Shanghai rally as most markets track Wall St record
- Record-breaking Root, Brook both pass 200 as England pile up 658-3
- Football mourns Greek defender George Baldock's shock death at 31
- Uniqlo owner reports record annual earnings
- Hong Kong, Shanghai rally as markets track Wall St record
- Indonesia biomass drive threatens key forests: report
- Home is far away for Madagascar in AFCON qualifying
- Two months on, Donbas soldiers begin to question Kursk offensive
- Rugby Australia to counter-sue in dispute with Melbourne Rebels
- Mumbai mourns Indian industrialist Ratan Tata
- Philippines challenges China over South China Sea at ASEAN meet
- Mets advance on Lindor blast, Dodgers stay alive in MLB playoffs
- Injury-ravaged Krygios aiming to return at Australian Open
- Greek international Baldock, dead at 31: family
- EU talks deportation hubs to stem migration
- Deaths and repression sideline Suu Kyi's party ahead of Myanmar vote
- S. Africa offers a lesson on how not to shut down a coal plant
- China opens $71 bn 'swap facility' to boost markets
- Mets advance on Lindor grand slam, Yankees and Tigers win
- Taiwan President Lai vows to 'resist annexation' of island
- China's solar goes from supremacy to oversupply
- Asian markets track Wall St record as Hong Kong, Shanghai stabilise
- 'Denying my potential': women at Japan's top university call out gender imbalance
- China's central bank says opens up $70.6 bn in liquidity to boost market
- Zelensky on whirlwind tour of Europe ahead of US vote
- Youth facing unprecedented wave of violence, UN envoy warns
- 'A casino in every kitchen': Brazil's online gambling craze
- Nobel chemistry winner sees engineered proteins solving tough problems
Record-breaking Babar up there with the best after Pakistan heroics
Pakistan captain Babar Azam has long established his credentials in limited-overs cricket, but his 196 against Australia put him up there with some greats in the long form of the game too.
Azam fought valiantly for 10 hours and seven minutes in an innings lasting 425 deliveries to help Pakistan salvage a draw on Wednesday in the second Test in Karachi.
His heroic innings became the second-longest knock in the fourth innings of a Test, just 36 minutes behind Michael Atherton's 185 not out that ensured England saved the 1995 Johannesburg Test against South Africa.
Azam added 228 for the third wicket with Abdullah Shafique (96) and 115 for the fifth with Mohammad Rizwan (104 not out) as Pakistan defied the Australian attack for 171.4 overs.
The epic draw kept the three-match series -- Australia's first in Pakistan for 24 years -- tied at 0-0 after the first Test also ended in a draw in Rawalpindi.
Former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq told AFP that Azam's performance was "career defining".
The 27-year-old Azam's remarkable effort was the highest score by a captain in the fourth innings of a Test, surpassing Atherton's South Africa knock and propelling him above the likes of Don Bradman and Ricky Ponting.
Azam also became the highest individual scorer for Pakistan in the fourth innings of a Test, surpassing Younis Khan's 171 not out against Sri Lanka in 2015.
His masterclass kept the Aussies at bay after the visitors dominated for five days and looked certain to win the match, having set the hosts a mammoth 506-run target.
"In terms of the context of the game, with the team under pressure, him being captain and as batter who had not scored a hundred for some time, this is his best innings," Misbah said.
"Such a match-saving innings gives you belief. I think this will go a long way in establishing his Test credentials," added Misbah, under whose captaincy Azam played his first Test in 2016.
- Fab five? -
Azam has a long-held ambition of becoming the best in the game.
From a ball boy at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in the 2007 Test between Pakistan and South Africa, Azam graduated to play in the 2010 Junior World Cup and then skippered his country at the same tournament two years later -- scoring the most runs on both occasions.
He learnt the art of occupying the crease with a memorable 266 for State Bank against Habib Bank in the domestic Quaid Trophy Silver league in 2014, heralding his arrival.
Five months later he made his one-day international debut -- and did not look back.
But he was slow off the mark in Test cricket, his first century not coming until the 32nd innings.
"I was never in doubt about his talent because he has a solid technique," said Misbah. "He started to blossom in the West Indies (2017) and Australia (2019)."
Azam hit 104 and 97 on the Australia tour, suggesting he could rank alongside Australia's Steve Smith, India's Virat Kohli, New Zealand's Kane Williamson and England's Joe Root -- the so-called "Fab Four".
Azam is ranked number one batsman in the International Cricket Council's ODI and T20I rankings, but eighth in Tests.
With his Karachi effort, there could be a "Fab Five" in the not-too-distant future.
P.M.Smith--AMWN