Pakistan skipper Babar Azam on Friday equalled Virat Kohli’s record of the fastest man to reach 3,000 runs in cricket’s shortest format during his team’s sixth T20I of the seven-match series against England, here.
The 27-year-old became the fifth men’s player and eighth overall to achieve the milestone in the format. He also became the first Pakistan batter to 3000 T20I runs during his half-century (87 not out off 59) against England in the sixth T20I at Gaddafi Stadium.
With Mohammad Rizwan rested for the match, the onus was on Azam to carry the Pakistan innings. The skipper responded by donning the anchor’s role even as Pakistan lost a couple of early wickets in the Powerplay.
Moving to 25 off 19 balls inside the first six overs, Azam completed his 29th score of fifty or more in the format. He finished on an unbeaten 87 off 59 balls, accelerating in the end overs after making his half-century in 41 balls. The late aggression from Azam helped Pakistan to 169/6 in their 20 overs.
Azam joins an elite list of T20I batters in the 3000-run club. India duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli head the run tally in men’s T20Is with more than 3000 runs. Martin Guptill and Paul Stirling are the others in the club.
However, Azam recorded 3000 runs in 81 innings, equalling Virat Kohli’s record in the format. Kohli and Azam are the only two batters to reach the milestone in less than 100 innings
In women’s T20Is, Suzie Bates, Meg Lanning, and Stafanie Taylor have over 3000 runs. Overall, Babar is the eighth player to the landmark in T20Is.
The next Pakistan batter on the list is Mohammad Hafeez with 2514 runs followed by Bismah Maroof with 2388 runs. Shoaib Malik and Rizwan are the only others outside these three from Pakistan with more than 2000 T20I runs.
