In advance of the T20 World Cup, Babar Azam maintains his run-scoring frenzy and surpasses the records of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

Although Babar Azam had a terrible Asia Cup, it seems like regular operations have already returned for the Pakistani skipper. In the present tri-series in New Zealand, Babar hit his 29th T20I half-century on Thursday to lead Pakistan to a seven-wicket victory against Bangladesh.

Pakistan pursued a target of 174 and Babar hit 55 off 40 balls in a 101-run opening stand with Mohammad Rizwan. He became the first Asian batsman to reach 11,000 runs in international cricket faster than former India skipper Virat Kohli in the process.

While Kohli needed 261 innings to reach the milestone, the 27-year-old did it in 251 innings. With 262 innings, Indian batting star Sunil Gavaskar is now third on the list, while Pakistani legend Javed Miandad rounds out the top four with 266 innings. After the inning, Babar scored 11,002 runs. He is the 11th hitter from Pakistan to reach the milestone altogether. As of right now, Babar has scored 3122 runs in 75 innings of 42 Tests, 4664 runs in 90 innings of 92 ODIs, and 3216 runs in 86 innings of 91 T20Is.

Additionally, he surpassed Rohit Sharma, the captain of India, on the record for most T20I half-centuries. With 28 half-centuries so far while Babar had 29, Rohit had previously been edged out by teammate Kohli. After a disappointing 2021, Kohli has rediscovered his mojo again this year in the shortest format, scoring 33 fifties.

Bangladesh scored 173/6 when batting first, with the bulk of the runs coming from Litton Das’s 69 off 42 balls and skipper Shakib Al Hasan’s 68 off the same number of deliveries. However, the duo of Babar and Rizwan provided Pakistan with a solid starting point for the pursuit. In the 13th over, Hasan Mahmud dismissed Babar, then Haider Ali was dismissed two deliveries later. Mohammad Nawaz proved to be a capable co-player for Rizwan after the latter’s unbeaten 45 off 20 balls helped Pakistan cross the finish line. Rizwan had previously hit 69 in 56 balls.