Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan rewrite T20 cricket history by breaking Virat Kohli-Chris Gayle's record

Pakistani cricket team fans had a reason to celebrate despite their T20I series loss to England as their formidable opening pair, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, etched their names into the record books with their stunning performances in the fourth and final game at Kennington Oval in London on Thursday, May 30.

Babar and Rizwan continue to etch their names in cricketing history, as the Pakistani cricketing stalwarts are now one of the most prolific opening pairs in the shortest format of the game. On May 30, during the fourth T20I against England at the Oval, they achieved a remarkable milestone, becoming the most successful opener pair in the history of T20 cricket.

Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan break Virat Kohli-Chris Gayle's massive T20 record

With a solid 59-run opening stand in the fourth and final T20I match against England, Babar and Rizwan surpassed the previous record of having the most 50+ run opening partnerships in T20 cricket held by Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

This record-breaking partnership marked their 24th instance of crossing the 50-run mark for the first wicket in T20 cricket, overtaking the RCB’s iconic opening pair Kohli-Gayle, who had 23 fifty-plus stands. Babar and Rizwan's tally now stands at an impressive 24 partnerships of fifty runs or more.

Notably, the Pakistan cricket team’s star opener’s record-breaking feat includes an impressive ten-century partnership, which showed their prowess and reliability at the top of the order. However, Pakistan lost the final game by 7 wickets to lose the T20I series to England on Thursday.

Babar Azam joins Virat Kohli in the 4000-run club in T20I cricket

Meanwhile, Babar Azam achieved another significant milestone during the fourth and final T20I match against England at the Kennington Oval in London. Following in the footsteps of Indian batting maestro Virat Kohli, Babar became only the second batter in the world to amass 4000 runs in the history of T20 international cricket.

The Pakistan skipper required just 13 runs to reach this prestigious milestone, and he achieved it in style by striking two consecutive boundaries off the bowling of Chris Jordan in the fourth over of his team’s batting against England. However, he made 36 runs off 22 balls in the final match at the Oval.

Most Runs in T20I Cricket:

Virat Kohli - 4037 runs (109 innings)

Babar Azam - 4023* runs (112 innings)

Rohit Sharma - 3974 runs (143 innings)

Paul Stirling - 3589* (142 matches)

Martin Guptill - 3531 (122)

Notably, Babar and Kohli will both be seen in action in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and Caribbean, starting on June 2. While Pakistan will kick off their campaign against the USA on June 6 in Texas, Team India will play their first game against Ireland on June 5 in New York.

They will be up against each other in the much-awaited clash of the T20 World Cup 2024 between India and Pakistan on June 9 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York.