Babar-Rizwan pips Rahul-Rohit to script massive T20I world record

Pakistan captain Babar Azam and his opening partner Mohammad Rizwan have continued with their stellar form in the T20I format to script a massive world record as a batting pair, going past the Indian combination of KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma. En route to their respective half-century knocks during their third T20I against West Indies in Karachi on Thursday, the two also scripted their individual world records as well.

In response to West Indies' mighty target of 208 runs in the final T20I of the three-match series, Rizwan and Babar stitched a stellar 158-run stand for the opening partnership. It was their fourth 150-plus stand as an opening pair, all of which came in 2021 and all four remains one if its kind for Pakistan in the T20I format. The stand was also their second-highest as a pair after their partnership of 197 against South Africa earlier this year.

The century stand was also their sixth as a T20I pair, the most by a combination, as they went past the Indian pair of Rahul and Rohit, who have five such scores to their name.

En route to the partnership, Babar scored a 53-ball 79. It was his 20th fifty-plus score in T20 cricket in this calendar year, which is the most by any cricketer in a single year.

Meanwhile, Rizwan amassed the tally to 2000 runs in T20 cricket in 2021 which is the most by a player in a calendar year. Earlier, during the T20 World Cup tournament in the UAE, Rizwan had surpassed West Indies batting legend Chris Gayle to become the highest run-getter in T20s in a calendar year. Gayle had made 1665 runs in 36 innings in 2015. Babar too had gone past the veteran batsman during Pakistan's semi-final game, to take the second spot behind Rizwan.

Rizwan was eventually dismissed for 45-ball 86. Asif Ali added the finishing touches with his incredible seven-ball 21 as Pakistan completed their highest successful T20I chase to script a 3-0 whitewash over the Windies.