Pakistan star Babar Azam on Wednesday surpassed the likes of Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli to become the fastest batter to reach the milestone of 10,000 T20 runs. He is the fastest to achieve the feat in terms of all – innings, matches and time taken. Babar raced to the landmark during his 72-run knock in his team Peshawar Zalmi’s seven-wicket defeat to Karachi Kings in Pakistan Super League. Ahead of the game in Lahore, Babar was only six short of the 10,000-run mark. Babar got there in 271 innings, 281 matches, and 11 years and 82 days.
West Indies legend Gayle reached the milestone in 285 innings, 290 matches, and 11 years and 215 days. Meanwhile, star India batter Kohli achieved it in 299 innings, 314 matches, and 14 years and 176 days.
Former Pakistan team director Mohammad Hafeez recently disclosed details about the conversation he had with star batters Babar and Mohammad Rizwan during the recently concluded T20I series against New Zealand.
Pakistan avoided a whitewash during the five-match T20I series by registering a 42-run victory in the final game to end their tour on 4-1.
During the first three games of the series, Babar showed glimpses of returning to his peak after going through a barren run in last year’s World Cup and the Test series against Australia.
Against the Kiwis, the experienced batter registered scores of 57, 66 and 58. Overall in the series, he amassed 213 runs at an average of 42.6.
Hafeez opened up about the conversation he had with Babar during which he stressed the importance of contribution from each player which plays a major role in the team’s achievements.
“You are a great player, you are a wonderful player, and you are playing great cricket; however, you have to develop the Pakistan team,” Hafeez said in an interview, as quoted from Geo News.
The former team director suggested Rizwan and Babar embrace positional changes. He went on to reveal that he appreciated Babar’s talent and potential but urged him to play at the number three spot rather than opening for the team.
“We need to develop a team, and for that, I want you to come at number three because you have been playing this role in the ODI cricket for the last six years,” Hafeez added.
(With ANI Inputs)
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