The star Pakistani batter has created history on Friday (December 13) by breaking Chris Gayle’s world record and himself becoming the fastest batter in the world to score 11,000 runs in T20 cricket. Though known for his T20 debut on December 1, 2012, Babar stands today with 11,020 runs in 298 innings out of 309 matches played so far. This is one of the records that he broke during today’s 2nd T20I of the ongoing 3-match series between Pakistan and South Africa played at SuperSport Park, Centurion on Friday. Babar came to bat at No. 3 for the Men in Green, and in that time, he faced 20 balls for 31 runs scored with the help of 3 fours and 1 six.
The record for scoring most runs in T20 cricket-now-an-international format stands to Gayle with 14,562. He completed the 11,000-run mark in his 314th innings. More than 10 batters have managed to reach such a score of over 11,000 runs in T20 cricket, but Babar is the one of the only players when it comes to that number in less than 300 innings.
Former Australian opener David Warner required 330 innings to reach the 11,000 T20 runs mark. Meanwhile, legendary Indian batter Virat Kohli required 337 innings to reach the same milestone in the shortest format of the game.
Fastest to 11,000 runs in T20s
Babar Azam (Pakistan) – 298 innings
Chris Gayle (West Indies) – 314 innings
David Warner (Australia) – 330 innings
Virat Kohli (India) – 337 innings
Babar also crossed the landmark of 14 000 runs in international cricket for Pakistan during his knock of 31 runs on Friday. He made his international debut in 2015 and has since played 303 matches for the Pakistan men’s cricket team across all three formats, scoring a total of 14,029 runs helped by 31 centuries and 94 fifties.
Inzamam-ul-Haq, former captain, is the leading run-getter for Pakistan in international cricket. Inzamam represented the Men in Green for 16 years, playing 495 ODIs and scoring a total of 20,541 runs. He is followed by the likes of Younis Khan (17,790), Mohammad Yousuf (17,134), and Javed Miandad (16,213).
Most runs for Pakistan in international cricket
Inzamam-ul-Haq – 20,541
Younis Khan – 17,790
Mohammad Yousuf – 17,134
Javed Miandad – 16,213
Babar Azam – 14,029
With 31 runs in the second T20I which Pakistan went on to lose to the visiting side by 7 wickets, Babar has also closed the gap with Rohit Sharma as the number two on the list of batters with the most runs in T20Is. Babar now has a tally of 4223 runs in 128 matches, while Rohit ended his 17-year-old T20I career with 4231 runs in 159 matches.
