On Friday, Pakistan’s batter Babar Azam, wrote his name in the annals of cricket history by surpassing West Indies’s cricketer Chris Gayle’s record of fastest batsman to score 11,000 runs in T20 international cricket. Babar achieved this remarkable feat in the second T20I against South Africa, at Centurion.
The 29-year-old achieved the feat in only 298 innings, an earlier achievement than the Jamaican, who achieved the feat in 314 innings. Babar’s ruthless 31-ball spell helped Pakistan set a chaseable score of 206-5 against South Africa.
Babar Azam Breaks Chris Gayle’s Record, Receives Massive Praise
Not only has Babar set the record for fastest to 11,000 runs, but he is now the second Pakistani batter to make it to the elite list after Shoaib Malik. Albeit a success for both Babar and Shoaib, they also have the lowest strike rates amongst the team. Shoaib and Babar achieved 11000 runs each with a strike rate of 127.47 and 129.37 respectively.
On the other hand, Kieron Pollard remains the fastest in terms of strike rate to achieve 11,000 runs at the astonishing rate of 150.51.
Babar’s brilliance didn’t end there. with his current international work, the right arm also broke the 14,000 run-record in international cricket. This feat now ranks him as the fifth Pakistani batsman to achieve this and the second fastest Pakistani batsman (after retired legend, Mohammad Yousuf).
Babar’s 31 wickets for the wicket against South Africa also placed him on par with Shahid Afridi’s record of 73 sixes in T20 Internationals, which is a record that also keeps putting him in good stead in the T20 format alongside former players of Pakistan.
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