Pakistan captain Babar Azam goes past Virat Kohli's tally for most runs in T20Is during T20 World Cup game vs USA
Pakistan captain Babar Azam went past Virat Kohli to become the leading run-scorer in T20Is. The right-hander achieved the landmark while playing against the USA in a T20 World Cup match in Dallas on Thursday, June 6.
Babar needed 16 runs to go past Kohli, who has scored 4,038 runs in the shortest format. He scored a boundary off Nosthush Kenjigein in the 11th over to achieve the milestone. The opening batter scored 44 runs off 43 balls, including two sixes and three boundaries, against the co-hosts to reach 4,067 runs in 120 T20I matches (113 innings).
India captain Rohit Sharma is third on the list with 4,026 runs in 152 matches (144 innings). The trio will get the opportunity to go to the top during the high-octane India-Pakistan T20 World Cup clash in New York on June 9.
Ireland captain Paul Stirling (3591) and New Zealand's Martin Guptill (3531) complete the top five players list with the highest T20I runs.
Apart from T20Is, Babar Azam has 5729 and 3898 runs in 117 ODIs and 52 Tests, respectively. The 29-year-old is behind Javed Miandad (16213), Mohammad Yusuf (17134), Younis Khan (17790), and Inzamam-ul-Haq (20541) for the most runs for Pakistan in international cricket.
“As a batter, Babar is one of the best but as a captain and leader, there's a lot that he needs to learn” – Rashid Latif on Babar Azam
Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif recently lauded Babar Azam for his batting. Latif, however, pointed out that Babar has a lot to learn from Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma on how to handle pressure situations as a leader. The 55-year-old told PTI:
"The focus is on the game on June 9 against India. Babar (Pakistan captain) will be under a lot of pressure because of the game against India rather than performing in the World Cup.”
"But he has to learn to carry pressure, he should learn that from Virat and Rohit. They know how to carry the game. As a batter, Babar is one of the best but as a captain and leader, there's a lot that he needs to learn," he added.
Babar Azam-led Pakistan had finished as runners-up at the 2022 T20 World Cup. Interestingly, skippers Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli crashed in the semifinals and the group stage of the 2022 and 2021 T20 World Cup, respectively.