Pakistan skipper Babar Azam’s astonishing half-century in the sixth match of the New Zealand tri-series broke Virat Kohli’s record of the fastest Asian batter to reach 11000 runs in international cricket.
Babar Azam smashed 55 runs in 40 balls in the 6th match of the tri-series against Bangladesh which leads to a 7-wicket win over the side. Opener Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan gave a brilliant start to the match with 101 runs opening partnership.
Now, Babar Azam has made a habit of breaking Virat Kohli’s records. Virat Kohli has completed his 11000 international runs in 261 innings. But in the last match against Bangladesh, Babar completed his 11000 international runs just from 251 innings. Overall, he has scored 3122 runs from 75 innings of 42 tests, 3216 runs from 86 innings of 91 T20Is, and4664 runs from 90 innings of 92 ODIs.
With his amazing performance, Babar earlier surpassed Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar’s record. Gavaskar has achieved the record from 262 innings. After Babar, Javed Miandad has the same record in Pakistan, but out of 266 innings.
With the half-century, Babar also surpassed Indian skipper Rohit Sharma. Rohit had a record of 28 half-centuries to his name. But now, after the tri-series, the right-handed batter has scored his 29th half-century out of 91 innings. Now, Babar is the second batter in the world with the most number of half-centuries. It’s again Virat Kohli on the top of the list with 33 half-centuries.
Now, Babar has another chance to beat the record of Kohli to become the first player with the most half-centuries. the 27-year-old has enough time to explore more in the field. If he continues to be in the same form, he can surpass many other records.
Last year, former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar stated that Babar can catch up with Kohli soon. Kohli is far ahead of him, but if he keeps up with his current rank of scoring runs, he can catch up Kohli.
“Virat Kohli is far bigger and his records are proof of that. Babar is just catching up, but he is a very exciting talent and a classical player. His drives are joyful to watch. Babar has proved his mettle across the formats”, Shoaib said.
Pakistan won the tri-series against New Zealand by 5 wickets even though Babar has just scored 15 runs in the final match. With the win, Pakistan can now confidently go for the ICC T20 World Cup 2022.
Even though Babar is in good form, he cannot always win matches for the team. The concerns over the middle order are still under discussion. A better performance from the middle order could lead the team to achieve more in the world Cup in Australia.
Fantasy Cricket League – Everything is Cricket Here!
