Pakistan skipper Babar Azam entered the hall of fame on Sunday by becoming the fastest batsman to 2,000 men’s T20I runs.
Babar Azam got to the milestone in 52 T20I innings, thereby overtaking India’s Virat Kohli.
The 26-year-old reached the milestone in the third of the three-match T20I series versus Zimbabwe. Before starting this match, Babar Azam needed to score 17 runs to breach the 2000-run mark.
He walked out to bat after the end of the fifth over of the innings when Luke Jongwe dismissed Sharjeel Khan for 18 runs. Babar Azam scored his 2000th run in the 13th over when he hit Ryan Burl for a four off the second delivery.
In his career, Babar Azam has a century and 17 fifties. He plays at an impressive average of nearly 48.
Virat Kohli had achieved the milestone of 2000 T20I runs in his 56th innings (60th match).
| Player | Ground | Match Date | Time | Mat | Inns | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| V Kohli (INDIA) | Manchester | 3 Jul 2018 | 8y 21d | 60 | 56 | |||
| AJ Finch (AUS) | Southampton | 4 Sep 2020 | 9y 236d | 62 | 62 | |||
| BB McCullum (NZ) | Chattogram | 29 Mar 2014 | 9y 40d | 67 | 66 | |||
| MJ Guptill (NZ) | Mount Maunganui | 28 Jan 2018 | 8y 347d | 70 | 68 | |||
| PR Stirling (IRE) | St George’s | 15 Jan 2020 | 10y 214d | 73 | 72 |
Babar Azam also overtook his teammate Mohammad Hafeez who achieved the feat in 89 innings (93rd match).
Now, Azam is only behind his teammates Hafeez and Shoaib Malik to become the highest run-scorer for Pakistan. The duo has 2,335 and 2,388 runs* respectively.
Babar Azam becomes the fastest batsman to 2000 T20I runs 🔥
He has taken only 52 innings to achieve the feat!#ZIMvPAK pic.twitter.com/cJT2HkYScg
— ICC (@ICC) April 25, 2021
Earlier, Pakistan captain Babar Azam has moved up by a place to second spot in the ICC men’s rankings for T20I batters.
His record-breaking 122 off 59 balls against Proteas saw him gain 47 points to displace Australia’s Aaron Finch from the second position.
