Babar Azam has crossed the 10,000-run barrier in T20 cricket, and is both the youngest and fastest to the milestone in the format’s history. He could yet break almost every batting record in T20 cricket.
It was a typical Babar knock, earning him a five-figure sum. After slipping at the top, his calm and steady 51-72 balls helped the team score 154 points, which wasn’t enough in the face of Kieron Pollard’s onslaught, but without him Peshawar Zalmi would definitely have been defeated long ago.
The strike continues the recent fine run for Babar, whose last six goals have been 62, 37, 47, 47, 68, and 72 in the Bangladesh Premier League and Pakistan Super League. However, this grade may actually be extended. Over the years, I have consistently followed Babar’s watchword. He averaged 43.95 in T20 cricket and became the highest batsman of all time at the 5,000-run cut-off. His long-time opening partner, Pakistani Mohammad Rizwan, is in second place.
5️⃣0️⃣ up for skipper @babarazam258 with a maximum ⚡️#Zalmi #PZvKK #ZalmiYama #YellowStorm #HBLPSL9 #KhyberEdition #ZalmiXGTR #PZvQG #BabarAzam pic.twitter.com/ykVRyWM1xq
– Peshawar Zalmi (@PeshawarZalmi) 21. February 2024
This consistency of Babar, coupled with the amount of T20 cricket he plays (7th on the list of most appearances by age 30), has already placed him high on several notable lists. He has moved to 12th place on the list of all-time runs scored in T20 cricket, overtaking David Miller in today’s innings, with Chris Gayle leading the way with 14,562 runs. His 94 runs put him fourth on the list of all-time scorers of 50 or more, behind Virat Kohli, David Warner and Gayle, who is again West Indies’ all-time top scorer with his 110 runs. .
Some may expect Babar to break both records. He has completed his 900-1,800 runs in each of the past seven calendar years. Even if he was at the lower end of that scale, he would catch up to Gayle by age 35. In each of those years he has scored eight to 20 points of 50 or more points. That means with almost a full season of the PSL and the T20 World Cup scheduled in the coming months, they could catch up with the Universe boss in 24 months or even sooner. But Warner, who currently has 109 in T20s and has scored over 50 points, could also overtake Gayle by then.
Whether Babar will break the all-time record is difficult to predict, as it rarely happens even among the best batsmen. Babar is currently in second place with 10 triple-digit scores, but is still less than halfway to Gayle’s 22 tons. Babar has earned an average of $200 a year for the past five years. He would need to maintain this speed for six years to catch up to the Jamaican, and while it’s not impossible, some fallow ground could put him at a close disadvantage.
One record Babar is unlikely to break is the most six times. He has cleared the rope 186 times in his T20 career so far, which puts him outside the top 100. Gayle tops with his 1,056 sixes.
Strangely, Gale’s number of 6s exactly matches Babar’s number of 4s. Babar is eighth on the list of most bounced boundaries in T20 cricket, with Alex Hales leading the way with 1,350 fores. Babar has hit at least 100 fours over the past five years. Again, this is a record I expect him to break.
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