Babar Azam is set to become only the second Pakistan batter to score 8000 runs in T20 cricket. 40-year-old Shoaib Malik is currently the leading T20 run-scorer from Pakistan, having scored 11698 runs from 472 matches at an average of 36.55 and a strike rate of 127.13 with as many as 71 half-centuries.
Babar, in the meantime, has 7880 T20 runs to his name from 219 matches at an average of 45.28 and a strike rate of 128.08 with six centuries and 67 half-centuries to show for his efforts. It goes without saying that the 27-year-old Babar needs only 120 runs to touch the 8000-run mark in T20s.
Mohammad Rizwan, in the meantime, is on the threshold of becoming only the seventh batter from Pakistan to score 5000 runs in T20Is. If he gets there, he will join Malik, Babar, Mohammad Hafeez, Umar Akmal, Ahmed Shehzad and Kamran Akmal in the elite list of batters.
Currently, Rizwan has scored 4909 runs from 187 T20 matches at an average of 41.95 and a strike rate of 126 with one century and 39 half-centuries to his name. Last year, Rizwan became the first batter to score over 2000 runs in T20s in a single calendar year.
Rizwan was also among the leading run-scorers along with Babar in the 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup in Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The Lahore-born Babar and Rizwan are now set to ply their trade in the 2022 edition of the Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Pakistan’s first assignment in the tournament is against Rohit Sharma’s India on Sunday, August 28 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
