Babar Azam became the fifth men’s player and eighth overall to reach 3000 runs in T20Is, as well as the joint-quickest to do so alongside Virat Kohli.
During his half-century against England in the sixth T20I of the seven-match series, the skipper became the first Pakistan batsman reach 3000 T20I runs. With Mohammad Rizwan rested for the game, it was up to Babar Azam to lead Pakistan’s innings.
Even though Pakistan lost a couple of early wickets in the Powerplay, the skipper replied by playing the anchor position. Azam completed his 29th score of fifty or more in the format, scoring 25 from 19 balls in the opening six overs.
He completed with an unbeaten 87 off 59 balls, picking up speed in the last overs after reaching his half-century in 41 balls. Azam’s late aggressiveness led Pakistan to 169/6 in 20 overs in Lahore on Friday.
Babar Azam enters an exclusive group of 3000-run T20I hitters. The India combo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have more over 3000 runs in men’s T20Is. The other members of the club are Martin Guptill and Paul Stirling.
Babar Azam, on the other hand, scored 3000 runs in 81 innings, matching Virat Kohli’s record in the format. Kohli and Azam are the only two batsmen to achieve the feat in less 100 innings.
Mohammad Hafeez is the next Pakistani hitter on the list, with 2514 runs, followed by Bismah Maroof, who has 2388 runs. Outside of these three, the only other Pakistanis with more than 2000 T20I runs are Shoaib Malik and Rizwan.