Pakistan vs England: Babar Azam equals Virat Kohli’s record for fastest batter to 3000 T20I runs

PAK vs ENG, 6th T20I: Babar Azam scored his 3000th T20I run in the penultimate game of the seven-match T20I series against England on Friday, September 30 in Lahore.

Babar Azam, on Friday, September 30, became the joint-fastest batter to score 3000 runs in T20Is. The 27-year-old equalled the record of Virat Kohli, who set the record back in 2021 against England in Ahmedabad.

Babar got to the milestone in Pakistan’s sixth T20I against England at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Prior to the game, the Lahore-born batter needed 52 runs and he achieved the feat without having to break much sweat. He smashed fastest bowler Richard Gleeson over long on to reach the milestone.

Babar got to his 27th half-century in T20Is off 41 balls and showed why he is deemed as one of the best batters in the modern era. Babar had the chance of breaking Kohli’s record after he scored a century in the 2nd T20I at the National Stadium in Karachi.

Babar needed 97 runs from three innings to get past Kohli’s record. However, two single-digit scores meant that he remained short of breaking the record.

As far as the ongoing match is concerned, Babar had a massive task in hand, since Pakistan’s leading run-scorer, Mohammad Rizwan, didn’t take the field.

To make things worse, after being put in to bat first, Pakistan lost the early wickets of Mohammad Haris, who replaced Rizwan, and Shan Masood.