ICC T20 World Cup: Decoding the stats of Babar Azam
What's the story
Pakistan cricket team captain Babar Azam has been delivering the goods consistently in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2021. The stylish batter has played a key role in helping Pakistan maintain a 100% record in the competition. Pakistan topped the show in Group 2 of the Super 12 stage and take on Australia tomorrow in a crunch semi-final clash.
Context
Why does it matter?
Babar has been enjoying a purple patch and he is bringing memories of Virat Kohli's heroics in 2016. There is a sense of calmness and responsibility in Babar's approach. His runs have come at the right time as Pakistan are playing well. Babar will be the vital cog for his side against a top Australian team in the semis. He can make the difference.
Runs
Babar is the leading scorer in T20 World Cup 2021
Babar is the top scorer in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021. He has racked up 264 runs from five matches at an average of 66.00. Notably, he has hit four half-centuries already with the best score of 70. Babar has a strike rate of 128.15. He has hit the joint-second highest number of fours (23).
Performance
Babar has hit four fifties in the ongoing WT20
Babar started his debut T20 World Cup campaign with a brilliant match-winning knock versus arch-rivals India (68*). He failed to get a start against New Zealand next, managing just nine. Since then, he has smashed three successive fifties. He got a 51 versus Afghanistan, before piling up 70 and 66 against Namibia and Scotland respectively.
Records
T20I records scripted by Babar in the ongoing tournament
In the ongoing tournament, Babar went past the 2,400-run mark in T20Is. He now has 2,468 runs at an average of 48.39. He also became the third batter with 25-plus fifty-plus scores in T20Is (25) after Virat Kohli (29) and Rohit Sharma (26). Babar has also gotten past 250 fours in T20Is (254). He is one of the seven batters with 250-plus fours.
1,000 runs
Babar is now the quickest to 1,000 runs as captain
In the match against Afghanistan, Babar struck a 47-ball 51 for his side. During the match, Babar broke Kohli's record to become the quickest to reach a milestone of 1,000 runs in T20Is as captain. Babar achieved the mark in just 26 innings. Earlier, Kohli had taken 30 innings to get past 1,000 runs.