Published in Geo News, on May 15th, 2024,
Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan broke the records during Pakistan’s recently ended series against Ireland
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam and wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan shattered records in the recently-concluded three-match T20I series against Ireland.
The Green Shirts clinched the series from Ireland by winning 2-1 at the Clontarf Cricket Club in Dublin as they warm up for the upcoming T20 World Cup in June.
After losing the first match by five wickets, the Babar Azam-led unit made an excellent comeback in the series as they won the remaining T20Is with dominant performances.
First Pakistani to score 25 runs in an over
Among many other records, Babar became the first Pakistani batter to score 25 runs in an over in the shortest format of the game against Ireland.
The 29-year-old batter hit four sixes in an over to Benjamin White, which was the first time in his career. He also took a single run.
Before Babar, only four Pakistani batters had managed to score as many as 24 runs in an over.
Asif Ali hit four sixes in one over against Afghanistan in 2021, Aamir Jamal scored 24 runs against Hong Kong in 2023 Asian Games, Khushdil Shah scored 24 runs in an over by hitting four sixes against Hong Kong in 2021 and Rizwan scored 24 runs in an over against Namibia in 2021.
Babar became the third Pakistani batter to hit four sixes in a single over.
Babar breaks Virat Kohli’s record
The Pakistani star batter became the highest 50+ scorer in T20 internationals. Overall, the skipper scored more than 50 runs for the 39th time.
Babar played an innings of 75 runs in the final match against Ireland. Meanwhile, India’s Virat Kohli scored more than 50 runs 38 times and Rohit Sharma 34 times overall.
Before Babar, Asif and Khushdil achieved these feats for Pakistan.
Babar, Rizwan partnership
Babar and Rizwan created a new partnership record in match against Ireland. The skipper scored 75 runs off 42 balls. His innings included 5 sixes and 6 fours.
Meanwhile, the wicketkeeper-batter scored 56 runs including 3 sixes and 4 fours.
The duo made a partnership of 139 runs, making it the 10th century partnership between the two in T20 internationals. They became the first pair to score 10 century partnerships.
At the same time, Babar and Rizwan also became the first pair to score 3,000 runs in partnership.
Ireland’s Paul Stirling and Andrew Balbirnie scored 2,043 runs in partnership while India’s Rohit and KL Rahul have five century partnerships in T20I.
This was Babar’s 17th century partnership in T20I and he is the player with most century partnerships. Meanwhile, this was Rizwan’s 13th century partnership.