Stats: Shoaib Malik overtakes Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to become the first Asian to score 2000 T20I runs
Veteran Pakistan batsman Shoaib Malik has won the three-way race against the Indian duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to become the third batsman overall and the first Asian to score 2000 T20I runs.
Before the start of the second T20I between India and Ireland, the Indian skipper and his deputy needed 17 and 51 runs respectively to reach the milestone before Malik, who was at 1989 runs in 98 matches, just 11 runs behind the landmark.
While everyone expected one of the Indian batsmen to reach the landmark first, Kohli holed out to the deep square-leg fielder for just nine while Rohit was dismissed for a second-ball duck.
Malik had the advantage of playing two T20Is in the tri-series in Zimbabwe involving Australia as the third team before India play their next T20I, which is against England at the Old Trafford, Manchester on July 3.
Batting in the first match of the tri-series against Zimbabwe, Malik cut a Solomon Mire delivery to the backward point fence for a boundary and brought up his latest milestone. Malik remained unbeaten on 37 off 24 balls and took his tally to 2026 runs.
It took Malik as many as 92 innings to reach 2000 T20I runs and the right-hander has scored his runs at a healthy average of nearly 32 and a strike-rate of just over 122.
Although Kohli missed this milestone by a whisker, he is likely to become the fastest to reach there as he has batted in just 55 innings, which is way lesser than the three batsmen above him on the list - Martin Guptill (2271 runs in 79 innings), Brendon McCullum (2140 runs in 70 innings) and Malik.
Most runs in T20Is:
1. Martin Guptill (NZ) - 2271 runs in 79 innings
2. Brendon McCullum (NZ) - 2140 runs in 70 innings
3. Shoaib Malik (Pak) - 2026 runs in 92 innings
4. Virat Kohli (India) - 1992 runs in 55 innings
5. Rohit Sharma (India) - 1949 runs in 74 innings
6. Mohammad Shahzad (Afg) - 1906 runs in 63 innings
7. Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL) - 1889 runs in 79 innings
8. JP Duminy (SA) - 1822 runs in 70 innings
9. David Warner (Aus) - 1792 runs in 70 innings
10. Eoin Morgan (Eng) - 1693 runs in 71 innings