Babar breaks Kohli’s record as he becomes second highest run scorer in T20I

Pakistan's star batter, Babar Azam, has ascended to second place in the all-time leading run-scorer list for men's T20 Internationals, surpassing India's Virat Kohli on Monday.

Babar achieved the milestone during the third and final T20I against Australia at Bellerive Oval, scoring 41 runs. Despite his personal achievement, Australia secured a 3-0 series victory after defeating Pakistan in the final match.

With 4,192 T20I runs, Babar has surpassed Kohli, who has 4,188 runs. India’s Rohit Sharma remains at the top with 4,231 runs. Babar now requires just 40 more runs to become the all-time leading run-scorer, potentially overtaking Sharma, who, along with Kohli, has ended his T20I career following India’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 victory.

Babar is now one of two Pakistani players in the Top 10 for most T20I runs, alongside current white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan.

Notably, the right-handed batter, who stepped down as Pakistan’s white-ball captain ahead of the Australia tour, struggled with the bat in recent series.

Babar scored only 80 runs in the three-match ODI series and continued his lean patch in the T20I series, posting scores of three in the first two matches before his record-breaking knock of 41 in the final game.