Babar, Rizwan become most successful pair in T20s

LONDON: Pakistan captain Babar Azam and wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Rizwan on Thursday, became the most successful pair in the history of T20 cricket.

Babar and Rizwan, who are considered one of the greatest pairs of the format, became the first to score 24 50-plus scores in the shorter format, 10 out of which were converted into century partnerships.

The fourth T20I between Pakistan and England marked the return of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan as the opening pair.

The decorated opening pair did justice to their legacy and provided Pakistan with a solid start with a brisk 59-run partnership.

Their opening partnership against England saw them surpass the likes of Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli, who had 23 fifty-plus scores for the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

Babar and Rizwan now have 3,227 runs as a pair in T20s and are only behind Kohli and AB de Villiers, who scored 3,175 runs as a duo for the RCB.

Earlier, Pakistan captain Babar Azam became only the second batter to complete 4000 runs in T20Is.

Babar achieved the landmark in the fourth T20I against England in the aforementioned fixture. He joined India’s batting star Virat Kohli on the elusive list, who has 4,037 runs in the shortest international format.

The right-handed batter scored a blistering 36 off 22 with the help of five fours and a six.

Most runs in T20Is

Virat Kohli- 4,037
Babar Azam – 4,023
Rohit Sharma – 3,974
Paul Stirling – 3,589

Furthermore, Babar also became the first captain to score 2,500 runs in the format.

READ: Babar Azam claims multiple records in T20 Internationals