Babar Azam Surpasses Virat Kohli on T20I Run-Scorers List

Pakistan’s cricket maestro, Babar Azam, etched another milestone in his glittering career on Monday, surpassing India’s Virat Kohli to become the second-highest run-scorer in men’s T20 Internationals.

Babar achieved the feat during his 41-run knock in Pakistan’s seven-wicket loss to Australia in the final T20I of the three-match series at Bellerive Oval, Hobart. Despite the defeat, his innings lifted him to 4,192 runs in the format, edging past Kohli’s tally of 4,188.

Former Indian skipper Rohit Sharma remains atop the list with 4,231 runs.

The gap at the summit, however, is tantalizingly close. With Sharma and Kohli both having retired from T20Is following India’s triumphant ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 campaign, Babar now requires just 40 runs to claim the all-time top spot.

Babar Azam’s rise has been a lone bright spot for Pakistan in a challenging tour Down Under. His record-breaking knock in Hobart followed a lean spell, with just 80 runs across three ODIs and two single-digit scores in the first two T20Is of the series.

While the tour hasn’t been kind to the former captain, this achievement reinforces his status as a modern batting great.

Notably, Mohammad Rizwan is the only other Pakistani among the Top 10 T20I run-getters, highlighting the consistent contributions of the duo in Pakistan’s white-ball cricket.

Here’s how the leader board for most runs in men’s T20Is stands:

With Pakistan reshuffling the limited-overs set up once again, all eyes will be on whether Babar gets a chance to surpass Sharma and cement his place in the record books as T20 cricket’s ultimate run-machine.