Pakistan’s Babar Azam surpasses Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli to get THIS massive record

Babar Azam reached the 7k mark in his 187th innings in the format, after crossing the 25-run mark during Central Punjab’s chase of 120. Chris Gayle had amassed 7,000 runs in T20 cricket in his 192nd innings while the Indian captain Virat Kohli reached the mark in his 212th innings.

Pakistan captain Babar Azam. (Source: Twitter)

Pakistan captain Babar Azam on Sunday (October 3) became the fastest batsman to complete 7,000 runs in the T20 format, surpassing the likes of Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli to reach the milestone. Babar achieved the feat during the National T20 Cup match between Southern Punjab and Central Punjab in Rawalpindi.

The Pakistan skipper reached the 7k mark in his 187th innings in the format, after crossing the 25-run mark during Central Punjab’s chase of 120. Gayle had amassed 7,000 runs in T20 cricket in his 192nd innings while the Indian captain reached the mark in his 212th innings.

Out of these 7,000 runs, 2,204 came in the international format, where he has appeared in 61 matches for Pakistan – scoring at an average of 46.89 with one century and 20 half-centuries. In addition to this, Babar has 3,058 runs have been scored in franchise cricket, having appeared in 84 matches across Pakistan Super League, Caribbean Premier League, Bangladesh Premier League and England’s Vitality Blast.

ANOTHER RECORD FOR @babarazam258 pic.twitter.com/jeHjUBRKh8 — Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) October 3, 2021

In National T20 Cup, Babar has scored 259 runs in six matches, which is the most by any player in the tournament, with one century and one fifty. Central Punjab presently stand fourth in the table, comprising six teams, with three wins in five games. 

Last week, Babar smashed a blistering hundred in the National T20 Cup while representing Central Punjab against Northern. He now holds the record for most hundred in the T20s for Pakistan by going past the tally of Ahmed Shehzad and Kamran Akmal. It was Azam’s sixth hundred in the shortest format of the game.

Prior to him, the Pakistan duo of Shehzad and Akmal were the joint record holder for most hundred for Pakistan in the T20s. Both of them have scored five hundred in the format.

The Pakistan skipper also went past Kohli on the list of batters with the maximum number of hundreds in the T20s. Kohli has scored five hundred in T20 cricket in 315 games. On the other hand, Babar has smashed six centuries in just 194 games in the format. He has now also joined the likes of India’s Rohit Sharma and former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson on the list of batters with the most T20 tons.