The 30-year-old Pakistan National Cricket Team batter Babar Azam has created history with his performance in the second T20I of the three-match series against South Africa National Cricket Team.
Babar Azam has broken the record of the legendary West Indies National Cricket Team batsman Chris Gayle and has become the fastest batter to score 11000 runs in the history of T20 cricket.
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Babar Azam shines in Centurion T20I
The former Pakistan National Cricket Team skipper Babar failed miserably in the first T20I against the Proteas as he bagged a 4-ball duck.
However, he bounced back strong in the second T20I at the SuperSport Park in Centurion on Friday, December 13. Babar looked in classy touch and he ensured that his strike rate remained high.
He batted with solid confidence and took his team off to a great start. Babar, however, wasn’t able to score big as he was dismissed in the 12th over by George Linde.
On the first ball of the 12th over, Linde bowled a tossed-up delivery to Babar Azam, who took an aerial route towards long-on. However, he wasn’t able to make a good connection with it and was caught by Ferreira. Babar Azam finished his innings with 31 runs off 20 balls, with 3 fours and 1 six.
Babar Azam completes 11000 T20 runs and 14000 runs in international cricket
Babar didn’t score big, but still, his performance helped him achieve some sensational milestones. He became the fastest-ever player in the history of T20 cricket to hit 11000 runs. This is a remarkable feat for Babar, who isn’t rated as a fine T20 player.
Babar Azam has become the 11th player to achieve this milestone and has the second-lowest strike rate (129.37) after Shoaib Malik (127.47). The player with the highest strike rate with 11000 or more T20 runs is Kieron Pollard (150.51).
Babar also completed 14000 runs in international cricket and became the second-fastest Pakistani to achieve this feat after the legendary Mohammad Yousuf.
Here’s a list of major records achieved by Babar:
Fastest to Reach 14000 runs for Pakistan across all Formats:
337 innings – Mohd Yousuf
338 innings – Babar Azam
343 innings – Javed Miandad
378 innings – Inzamam-ul-Haq
402 innings – Younis Khan
Fewest Innings to reach 11000 runs in T20s
298 – Babar Azam
314 – Chris Gayle
330 – David Warner
337 – Virat Kohli
363 – Aaron Finch
376 – Jos Buttler
386 – James Vince
390 – Alex Hales
408 – Rohit Sharma
Fewest Innings to reach 14000 International Runs:
309 – Viv Richards
309 – Hashim Amla
313 – Virat Kohli
319 – Matthew Hayden
327 – Joe Root
328 – Steven Smith
331 – Brian Lara
332 – Kane Williamson
337 – Mohammad Yousuf
338 – Babar Azam*
339 – David Warner
Most international runs for Pakistan:
Inzamam-ul-Haq – 20,541 runs (547)
Younis Khan – 17,790 runs (491)
Mohammad Yousuf – 17,134 runs (426)
Javed Miandad – 16,213runs (407)
Babar Azam – 14029 runs (338)