Another day, another record for Pakistan captain Babar Azam

Babar Azam may have endured a horrid run in the Asia Cup but normal service seems to have resumed since then for the Pakistan captain. Babar scored his 29th T20I half century on Thursday to lead Pakistan to a seven-wicket win over Bangladesh in the ongoing tri-series in New Zealand.

Babar scored 55 off 40 balls in a 101-run opening stand with Mohammad Rizwan as Pakistan chased a target of 174. In the process, he surpassed former India captain Virat Kohli in becoming the fastest Asian batter to cross 11,000 runs in international cricket.

The 27-year-old has surpassed the milestone in 251 innings while Kohli had taken 261 innings to get there. India batting great Sunil Gavaskar is now third on the list, having got to the mark in 262 innings while Pakistan legend Javed Miandad squares off the top four having got there in 266 innings. Babar ended the innings with 11,002 runs to his name. He is the 11th Pakistani batter overall to cross the mark. Babar has now scored 3122 runs from 75 innings of 42 Tests, 4664 runs from 90 innings of 92 ODIs and 3216 from 86 innings of 91 T20Is.

He also went past India captain Rohit Sharma in the list of most T20I half centuries. Rohit had earlier been pipped by his teammmate Kohli, having scored 28 half centuries thus far while Babar sits on 29. Kohli has scored 33 fifties, having found a second wind this year in the shortest format after a forgettable 2021.

Bangladesh scored 173/6 batting first, with Litton Das's 69 off 42 balls and captain Shakib Al Hasan's 68 off as many deliveries helping them get a majority of the runs. Babar and Rizwan's partnership, however, gave Pakistan a strong foundation to work from in the chase. Babar fell to Hasan Mahmud in the 13th over after which Haider Ali fell just two deliveries later. Rizwan, who scored 69 in 56 balls, then found an able partner in Mohammad Nawaz as the latter smashed an unbeaten 45 off 20 balls to take Pakistan over the line.