PAK vs ENG: Babar Azam matches Virat Kohli's incredible feat, joins Rohit Sharma and Martin Guptill in exclusive club
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has joined an elusive list of T20I batters on Friday. The premier batter of the Green Army has also equalled Virat Kohli's T20I record.
Pakistan’s all-format captain Babar Azam played a gem of a knock in the recently concluded T20I match against England at the Gaddafi Stadium on Friday. Entering his name in the T20I record books for the umpteenth time, premier batter Babar equalled Virat Kohli's incredible feat in the 6th T20I between hosts Pakistan and Moeen Ali-led England at Lahore. The swashbuckling batter notched up a quick-fire half-century to help Pakistan register a challenging total.
Leading the batting attack of the Green Army in the absence of in-form opener Mohammad Rizwan, Babar launched an all-out attack on the England bowlers as the star batter registered his 27th half-century in the shortest format of the game. Playing the anchor role to perfection in the penultimate clash of the seven-game series, Babar completed 3,000 runs in the shortest format of the game.
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The star batter also became the joint-quickest to 3000 T20I runs during his entertaining knock against the Three Lions. Both Kohli and Babar achieved the massive feat in 81 innings. Former Indian skipper Kohli and Pakistan's all-format captain Babar are the only two batters to reach 3,000 runs in less than 100 innings. Babar also joined Rohit Sharma, Kohli, Martin Guptill and Paul Stirling in the exclusive club of batters with 3,000 T20I runs. The Pakistani opener is the fifth batter to score 3,000 runs in the shortest format of the game.
Indian skipper Rohit is the all-time leading run-getter in T20Is. The veteran Indian opener has amassed 3694 runs in the shortest format. Rohit's teammate Kohli has smashed 3663 runs in 108 T20Is for India. Babar, who became the first Pakistani batter to score 3k runs in T20Is, has accumulated 3035 runs in 86 matches for the Green Army. Babar's unbeaten knock of 87 off 59 balls lifted Rizwan-less Pakistan to 169-6 in 20 overs. However, the Babar-led Pakistan side failed to defend their total as the hosts lost the match by 8 wickets.
