Babar Azam joins Virat Kohli, becomes only second batter to achieve major T20I landmark

Pakistan captain Babar Azam has become the second player to complete 4,000 runs in T20Is. The right-hander achieved the landmark during the fourth and final T20I between England and Pakistan at Kennington Oval in London on Thursday (May 30). Babar achieved the landmark in his 119th T20I appearance (112 innings).

Babar smashed consecutive boundaries off Chris Jordan during the fourth over of Pakistan's innings to reach the landmark.

Babar joined star Indian cricketer Virat Kohli, the first to reach 4,000 runs in the shortest format. The latter had taken 107 innings to achieve the feat.

Babar has over 500 runs against the West Indies, New Zealand, and England. The 29-year-old has scored the majority of his runs in Pakistan, amassing 1361 runs in 36 innings. He also has 763 runs in 23 innings in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the second home of Pakistan cricket.

Babar Azam can pip Virat Kohli for most runs in T20Is during 2024 T20 World Cup

With 36 runs off 22 balls in his latest innings against England, Babar has scored 4023 runs in 112 innings. He is only 14 runs behind Kohli, who has played just two innings since the 2022 T20 World Cup.

Babar will get the chance to go past Kohli during the 2024 T20 World Cup. Pakistan will kick-start the ICC campaign against the United States of America (USA) at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Thursday, June 6. Pakistan will then play arch-rivals India in a high-octane clash in New York on June 9. The Men in Green will also face Canada and Ireland in Group B.

List of top 5 most run-getters in T20Is

Virat Kohli [India] - 4,037 runs (107 innings)
Babar Azam [Pakistan] - 4,023 (112 innings)
Rohit Sharma [India] - 3,974 (143 innings)
Paul Stirling [Ireland] - 3589 (141 innings)
Martin Guptill [New Zealand] - 3531 (118 innings)

Overall, Babar Azam has over 10,000 runs in T20s. He, however, is still behind former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik, who has 13,360 T20 runs.

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