LAHORE: Pakistan’s all-format captain Babar Azam is all set to play his 100th T20I match today as Pakistan will take on New Zealand in the first T20I here at Gaddafi Stadium.

Babar, who is poised to lead Pakistan against New Zealand in the first T20I of the five-match series here tonight, will complete his T20I matches century.

Having made his T20I debut against England in 2016, Babar soon became a crucial part of the national team in the shortest format.

His consistent performances in T20Is propelled him to dethrone India’s star batter Virat Kohli as the top-ranked batter in 2018 and continued to rule the format for the longest period (1155 days).

Following the ouster of former all-format captain Sarfaraz Ahmed, Babar was initially given the reins of Pakistan’s T20I side.

Under his captaincy, Pakistan played the semi-final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 and the finals of the Asia Cup 2022 and T20 World Cup 2022.

In 99 T20Is, Babar has thus far scored 3355 runs – the most for Pakistan – at an average of 41.41. He has scored 30 fifties and two hundred amid his decorated career so far.

The first T20I against New Zealand today will mark Babar’s return to the national side for the shortest format as the star batter was given rest for the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan.

READ: Babar Azam completes two years as top-ranked ODI batter