Babar Azam draws closer to beat Virat Kohli's T20I record

Pakistan batter Babar Azam on Friday surpassed New Zealand’s Martin Guptill to become the third-highest Twenty20 International (T20I) run-scorer.

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The right-handed batter set the milestone by scoring a half-century in the first game of the ongoing five-match series against hosts New Zealand at Auckland’s Eden Park.

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Virat Kohli leads the run-scorer list with 4,008 runs. He is followed by his captain Rohit Sharma with 3,863 runs.

Babar Azam is third on the list with 3,542 runs, whereas Martin Guptil and Paul Stirling are on the fourth and fifth places with their respective tallies of 3,531 and 3,438 runs.

It is pertinent to mention that Babar Azam made his T20I debut in a fixture against England at Manchester on September 7, 2017. Since then, he set impressive records and milestones. Here’s a list of them.

The right-handed batter also led Pakistan in the format from 2019-2022. Under his leadership, the Green Shirts finished as runner-ups in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in the United Arab Emirates.

Pakistan beat India for the first and only time in a Men’s World Cup game under his leadership. The Green Shirts handed a 10-wicket thrashing to the arch-rivals at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on October 21.

They were the finalists in the 2022 edition.

Babar Azam stepped down as all-format captain after Pakistan’s disastrous performances in the Asia Cup 2023 and the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.