Babar Azam becomes fastest batter to score 10,000 T20 runs

Star Pakistan batter and former all-format captain Babar Azam has become the fastest batsman in the world to have scored 10,000 runs in the T20 format and he achieved this incredible feat during match number 2 of the Pakistan Super League which saw the Peshawar Zalmi go head-to-head with the Quetta Gladiators at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore.

Babar Azam is leading the Peshawar-based PSL outfit for the second season running and it’s only fitting that he keeps on attaining these types of records. He played out a vintage knock of 68 off 42 deliveries at a strike rate of over 160 but that eventually went in vain as his team fell short by 16 runs from the target of 207 and failed to get the win.

Regardless, Babar will be happy to have at least achieved a personal milestone that helped him topple the tallies of T20 cricket’s legends Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli, 2 batters who stood as the highest and second-highest batters to reach 10,000 runs across all T20 competitions, including domestic, overseas franchise and international T20 matches.

Babar Azam completes 10K T20 runs in fewer innings than Gayle and Kohli

Former Royal Challengers Bangalore teammates Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli had completed 10k runs in 285 and 299 innings respectively. While Gayle amassed these many runs by playing in several franchise tournaments around the world, Kohli did so only for India and the RCB.

Babar Azam on the other hand took only 271 innings to eclipse Gayle and Kohli. The Pakistani batter scored his 10K runs by playing for teams like Colombo Strikers (Sri-Lanka), Guyana Amazon Warriors (Caribbean), Islamabad United (PSL), Rangpur Riders (Bangladesh), Sydney Sixers (Australia), Karachi Kings and Peshawar Zalmi (both PSL).

The 29-year-old who resigned from his captaincy role from the senior team after Pakistan exited the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in India, has become overall the 12th batsman ever to enter the list. He joins the likes of Chris Gayle, Shoaib Malik, Kieron Pollard, Alex Hales, David Warner, Virat Kohli, Aaron Finch, Rohit Sharma, Jos Buttler, Colin Munro, James Vince, and David Miller.

Babar Azam will be hoping to retain his form just the way he is showcasing at the moment when Pakistan heads over to the USA and West Indies for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 which starts later this June. Under his captaincy, the Men in Green had reached the semi-finals and final of the previous 2 editions in UAE (2021) and Australia (2022). This time around, Pakistan will be captained by Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Babar also becomes the first PSL batter to amass 3000 runs

With his 68 off 42 for a losing cause, Babar Azam also became the only batsman in Pakistan Super League’s entirety to rack up 3000 runs. He is already the all-time top scorer of the league which began back in 2016. He stands as the only batter to in fact score over 2500 runs and it will be fair to say that Babar is a long way, lonely at the top.

Babar Azam further increased his lead on the top by scoring a 72 off 51 earlier today during Peshawar Zalmi’s 2nd PSL fixture against his former club Karachi Kings.