Dissecting UAE captain Muhammad Waseem's stellar numbers in T20Is
What's the story
United Arab Emirates (UAE) captain Muhammad Waseem played a stellar knock against Afghanistan in the T20I tri-series match in Sharjah. Albeit in a losing cause, he scored an explosive 67 runs off just 37 balls. The game saw him break India's Rohit Sharma's record for most sixes as a captain in T20Is. Waseem now also boasts the second-most T20I sixes. On this note, let's decode his stats in T20I cricket.
Milestone achievement
Most T20I sixes as captain
Waseem's 67-run knock against Afghanistan featured six sixes and four boundaries. As per ESPNcricinfo, he went past Rohit's record of 105 sixes as a captain in T20Is. The opener accomplished the feat with two consecutive sixes off Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb-ur-Rahman in the third over. Having played 54 T20Is as captain, Waseem has raced to 110 sixes. His tally also includes 1,857 runs at 37.14 (50s: 16, 100: 1). Meanwhile, no other batter owns even 90 T20I sixes as captain.
Record details
Waseem goes past Guptill
In the all-time six-hitters chart in T20Is, Waseem is now second with 176 sixes. He has surpassed New Zealand's Martin Guptill (173 sixes) and is only behind Rohit, who has a whopping 205 sixes to his name. Despite his heroics, UAE failed to chase down Afghanistan's strong total of 188/4 and lost the match by 38 runs. Meanwhile, England's Jos Buttler is the only other player with 150-plus T20I sixes (160).
Career
Most T20I runs for UAE
Having played 80 T20Is since his debut in 2021, Waseem has raced to 2,859 runs at a strike rate of 156.31. His average reads 38.12. His tally includes three tons and 23 half-centuries. No other UAE batter has even 1,300 T20I runs. Besides 176 sixes, he has also smashed 231 fours. Among batters with at least 2,500 T20I runs, India's Suryakumar Yadav is the only other player with an average of 38-plus and a strike rate of 150-plus.
DYK
Fifth most runs as captain
Waseem's tally of 1,857 runs as captain is the fifth-most for any player. He is only behind Pakistan's Babar Azam (2,642), Australia's Aaron Finch (2,236), New Zealand's Kane Williamson (2,153), and Rohit (1,905). 2,858 of his 2,859 T20I runs have come as an opener at a strike rate of 156.60. Among openers with 1,500-plus T20I runs, only Faisal Khan (172.25) and West Indies's Evin Lewis (156.74) boast better strike rates.
Feats
Here are his other T20I feats
Waseem is the third fastest batter to complete 2,500 T20I runs, having taken 67 innings. He also holds the record of playing the fifth-most T20I games on the bounce. The streak is still unbroken at 80 as Waseem hasn't missed a single game since his debut. His tally of 909 T20I runs at 39.52 in 2024 is the seventh-most for any batter in a calendar year.