5 Pakistan players with 1000 or more Test runs in a year, including Azhar Ali who got to the mark on Tuesday with his unbeaten 139. He emulated Mohsin Khan (1982), Inzamam-ul-Haq (2000), Mohammad Yousuf (2006) and Younus Khan (2006 & 2014), and is one run short of the third-highest tally (1090) by a Pakistan batsman in a year.

 

71.77 – Azhar Ali’s batting average in Tests against Australia, which is his second highest behind Bangladesh (75.16). Since his Test debut at Lord’s in 2010, which was also against Australia, he has scored 646 runs in six Tests against them at an average of 71.77.

 

3 – The number of hundreds scored by Azhar against Australia, which have all come in the last five innings. He scored a century in each innings against Australia in Dubai in 2014 and followed it with 5 and 71 in Brisbane and 139 not out in Melbourne.

 

26 years since a Pakistan batsman at No. 6 or lower struck two 50-plus scores in a series in Australia. Wasim Akram (52 and 123) did so in 1990. Asad Shafiq (137 and 50) has done so in 2016.

 

5 Azhar's position on the list of highest scores by Pakistan openers in Australia. At the top is Majid Khan with 158 at the MCG in 1972-73. The six best scores by Pakistan batsman in Australia have all been made at the MCG or in Adelaide.

9 – The number of centuries scored by a Pakistan player at the MCG, the most they have accumulated at an Australian venue. Azhar is the latest and seventh batsman from Pakistan to amass a ton at the MCG. The previous six before him were Mohammad Yousuf, Ijaz Ahmed, Mohsin Khan, Majid Khan (twice), Sadiq Mohammad (twice) and Hanif Mohammad. Of these seven, Mohsin, Yousuf and Azhar are the only three to achieve the feat in a Boxing Day Test.

 

56.62 – Azhar’s batting average in Tests in the last three years, the highest by any Pakistan batsman with minimum 20 innings. Surprisingly it is also higher than many of the modern-day greats Virat Kohli (53.05), David Warner (50.67), Ajinkya Rahane (50.04), AB de Villiers (45.55) and Hashim Amla (44.18). It is also more than his country’s most prolific run-getter Younus Khan (56.40). The highest average by any batsman during this period is 71.06 by Steve Smith followed by Kane Williamson (64.86).

 

22 – The number of years ago Pakistan last batted at least 100 overs against Australia in consecutive innings. The green caps batted 145 overs in the last innings in Brisbane and have so far faced 101.2 overs in Melbourne. The last time that happened was in 1994 when they lasted for 120.5 in the first innings and 109.1 in the second innings in Lahore. After that they played 44 innings against Australia without facing 100 overs in back-to-back innings.

 

3 Times, in as many innings, that Misbah-ul-Haq has been picked up by Jackson Bird in this series. Misbah has scored only four runs off Bird in 31 deliveries and averages 1.33 against him, his worst against a bowler who has dismissed him more than once in a series.

 

17.80 Bird's bowling average in first-class matches at the MCG, his best at a venue where he has played more than one match. He has 30 wickets in six games here. In this series, he has picked up nine wickets so far, the most by a bowler from either side.

 

51 Threes run by Pakistan batsmen in four innings, which is already their joint-highest in a series since 2001. They ran 33 threes in the first Test, all while chasing 490, and 18 so far in second. They also ran 51 threes in four innings against Australia in 2014-15.

 

55 Runs made by Pakistan in the last ten overs before rain stopped play on the second day. In the process, their overall run-rate went past three for the first time in the innings. Azhar and Mohammad Aamir are in the middle of an unbroken partnership of 42 runs for the seventh wicket, scoring at 6.46 per over.