Pakistani skipper Babar Azam has broken the record of West Indies’s Chris Gayle as he becomes the fastest batsman to score 7000 runs in T20 format.
Babar Azam reached the landmark during the National T20 Cup match against Southern Punjab. He was playing his 187th innings and just needed four runs to break the record. Chris Gayle has crossed the benchmark in his 192nd innings.
Pakistani skipper Babar Azam was three innings short of Chris Gayle’s record when he scored 6000 runs this year. Since then he has played only 22 innings to add another 1000 runs to his T20 score. Out of his 7000 runs, 2204 runs have been scored in T20Is.
Another day, another record.
Just Babar Azam things 🤷♂️#NationalT20Cup pic.twitter.com/uO9m6I7Qjy
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) October 3, 2021
Babar Azam reached the milestone in his 187th innings, which is 15 less than West Indies legend Chris Gayle, who earlier held the record of being the fastest batter to reach 7000 runs in T20s#BabarAzamhttps://t.co/sUzWWyl1fo
— CricketNDTV (@CricketNDTV) October 4, 2021
Earlier, he broke the record of Indian skipper Virat Kohli, as he became the fastest batsman to reach 2,000 Twenty20 international runs. He achieved the feat in 52 innings, four fewer than Indian superstar Virat Kohli. Netizens have been lauding Babar Azam and expects him to maintain his form in the upcoming mega cricketing event, T20 World Cup.
Read more: Babar Azam unhappy with the T20 World Cup squad
Azam lifted his T20 total to 2,035 runs by making 52 as Pakistan defeated Zimbabwe by 24 runs to win a T20 series 2-1 at Harare Sports Club.
Kohli has scored 3,159 runs in the 20-over format, but it took him 56 innings to pass the 2,000-run landmark.
After Azam and Kohli come Australia skipper Aaron Finch (62 innings) and former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum (66).
In April, Pakistani skipper Babar Azam became the world’s fastest batsman to score 13 centuries. He achieved a feat in the 76th innings on Friday in an ODI against South Africa.
Read more: Babar Azam breaks PM Khan’s record in England, receives praise from India
The previous batsman to reach the hallmark was former South African player, Hashim Amla, who scored 13 centuries in the 83rd innings. Meanwhile, Indian skipper Virat Kohli and South African players Quinton De Cock took 86 innings to score 13 centuries.