A gritty 75 under dire circumstances on day one of the second Test between West Indies and Pakistan further emphasizes how Babar Azam has turned into a Test batsman impossible to ignore in the big discussions, writes Rohit Sankar.

Friday was business as usual for Pakistan cricket: the top-order collapses as usual and Babar Azam and Fawad Alam combine in a 166-run stand to lift the side from the abyss.

The first ball Babar faces — a nonchalant, non-scoring leave against a pumped-up Kemar Roach, who has already taken out two batsmen in two overs — is perhaps testimony to the Test batsman he is right now. Roach sent one angling in from a wider release point. An assured Babar reads the length perfectly, covers the movement closely and leaves. There are ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from the slip cordon as the ball goes dangerously close to the stumps, but Babar’s judged this one perfectly. Just like he has mastered Test cricket in recent years.

Since the start of 2019, Babar is the 12th leading run-scorer in Test cricket behind some prominent names. Among batsmen with a minimum of 1,000 runs in this time frame, Babar comes in fifth in terms of averages, behind Kane Williamson, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith and Rohit Sharma, all of them averaging over 50.

For a batsman who has developed a reputation as a leading limited-overs player, the Test numbers have largely floated under the radar. Sure, there were the odd hues and cries to recognize Babar as a Test batting giant, most notably by Nasser Hussain in Sky Sports commentary on Pakistan’s tour of England last year.

“They talk about the ‘Fab Four’ (Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, Joe Root), but it’s the ‘Fab Five’ and Babar is in that,” Hussain commented.

Numbers show he isn't off the mark by much. Purely in terms of batting average, Babar fares comparably with the Fab Four, eclipsing Virat Kohli in particular after the latter's dry patch in Test cricket since late 2019. What's notable, though, is that Babar is the only Pakistan player to make over 1,000 Test runs in this time frame whereas every other batter in the list of players with 1,000-plus runs since 2019 has one teammate at least for company.

The Pakistani skipper had a middling start to his Test career, averaging 23.75 in his first two years in Test cricket, but his outrageous run in limited-overs cricket has sort of masked his growth as a Test batsman. There were glimpses of his best in the format even in the dry early period. A delectable 90* against a New Zealand attack in Hamilton came when his side were reeling at 51 for 5 at one stage. In 2018 and early 2019, a few more outstanding knocks followed. A 127* from No.6 against New Zealand in Dubai, a hundred at the Gabba no less and a 97 at Adelaide showed his range as a Test batsman.

Babar's growth is evident when comparing his numbers on a year-on-year basis against the top six batters globally and within Pakistan (him included). Babar's batting average soared well above the Pakistan and global average in 2018, 2019 and 2020. He hasn't had a great start to 2021, but in West Indies in the two Tests so far, twice he has lifted the side from precarious positions.

The emergence of Fawad Alam as a solid middle-order batsman alongside the rising form of Mohammad Rizwan has given Babar the cushion he so badly needed to become a Test batting great. While the 'Fab Four' have all had terrific company from within the team, Babar has often lacked support from his peers.

Since 2019, Pakistan's top three have a combined batting average of 32.54. Kane Williamson, Steve Smith and Virat Kohli have all enjoyed way better company. Root hasn't had much support from the top-order, but Ben Stokes' purple patch has helped. Babar now has better support from the middle-order at least.

With that, the numbers have started to go skyward and at a time a member from the Fab Four is going through a terribly rough patch, Babar's opportunity to sneak into the list is better than ever. While Kohli's last Test hundred came in November 2019, Babar has scored four Test hundreds since November 2019.

Labuschagne and Rohit make fair cases to make it to the list ahead of Babar. The duo are ahead of Babar in the ICC Test batting rankings too. But, Babar's numbers have been solid across conditions, something that cannot be said of the other two.

Since 2018, in all continents Babar has played, he has pushed his batting average by a huge margin. The average in Asia has gone up from a very humanly 55.47 to an extraterrestrial level of 71.15. In Europe, where he hadn't played before 2018, he averages 56. In Australia and New Zealand, it's at 52.5 since 2018, in stark contrast to 23.33 prior to that. In West Indies, it has risen to 53.3 after his latest knock.

Babar is aware of what changed too. After his outstanding series in Australia in 2019, he stressed that his Test game had improved massively after a mindset change.

"I focussed a lot on my concentration, especially after I reach 50," Azam said. "I want to look at how I can make it a big knock. So I try to maintain the same focus for the second 50 as I do for the first. I didn't work separately with anyone. Test cricket teaches you all this. When I was failing to convert, I sat and analyzed why I am flopping. I just changed my mindset and have given 200% on my concentration."

His recent returns make for compelling viewing. The Fab Four in Tests might just need some readjustment given the way Babar has climbed up the ranks and Kohli has fallen off the perch. With continued support from a stronger-than-before middle-order, Babar is all set to scale peaks.

Sign up to The Cricket Draft, powered by Wisden, an all-new, free-to-play fantasy game running alongside The Hundred, to win prizes and compete with your friends.