Babar Azam becomes first Pakistani cricketer to score 500 in T20 tournament

By
Faizan Lakhani
|

KARACHI: Babar Azam has added yet another feather to his cap when, on Saturday, he became first Pakistani cricketer to score 500 runs in a T20 tournament.

The 24-year-old is currently playing for Somerset Cricket Club in the Vitality Blast T20 Championship wherein, he scored 63 off 42 against Glamorgan — his fifth 50+ score in the tournament that also includes a century.

The innings took his total score in the on-going championship to 541 runs in 11 innings, the highest by any Pakistani cricketer in a T20 tournament played anywhere.

Babar surpassed a 486-run record by opening batter Ahmed Shahzad, who had achieved the feat in 2012’s edition of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). All-rounder Azhar Mahmood, on the other hand, had scored 485 runs in 2011 FriendsLife T20 championship while playing for Kent.

During the 63-run innings, the right-handed cricketer also completed 4,000 runs in T20 cricket to become the eighth Pakistani to reach the milestone.

He joins Shoaib Malik (8,701), Ahmed Shahzad (5,720), Kamran Akmal (5,688), Mohammad Hafeez (5,495), Umer Akmal (5,430), Shahid Afridi (4,175), and Azhar Mehmood (4,091) in Pakistan’s club of 4,000+ runs in T20.