Babar Azam achieves the unthinkable, surpasses Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to sit atop the men's T20I leaderboard

Babar Azam is now a proud holder of a T20I record. He beats Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to make the feat his own.

Babar Azam's return to T20Is for Pakistan ended in a damp squib as he departed to the pavilion for a two-ball duck. However, the right-handed batter did some course correction in the second game of the three-match series, returning with an unbeaten knock of 11 runs off 18 balls with the help of one boundary as Pakistan chased down the target of 111 with nine wickets in hand and 41 balls to spare. Owing to this 11-run knock, Babar Azam achieved a remarkable T20I record, beating India's Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

Babar Azam is now a proud holder of a T20I record. (AP)

Babar has become the leading run-scorer in men's T20Is with 4234 runs to his name in 123 innings. He surpassed former India captain Rohit, who had amassed 4231 runs in 151 innings.

On the other hand, Virat Kohli called time on his career with 4188 runs to his name in 117 innings. While Babar (39.57) has maintained a higher average than Rohit (32.05), it pales in comparison to Virat's 48.69.

Among all three, Rohit maintained a higher strike rate. Speaking about Babar, he achieved the feat by taking a single off the bowling of Donovan Ferreira to long-off. The former Pakistan captain was recalled back into the T20I squad following criticism over his exclusion from the Asia Cup team.

Pakistan lost the Asia Cup after losing the summit clash to arch-rival India at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, and this resulted in the think tank including Babar back into the scheme of things ahead of the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka next year.

Babar is set to finish way ahead of Rohit and Virat in terms of run-scoring charts in T20Is, considering the Indian duo called time on their T20I career following the World Cup win in 2024. Babar's only notable competitor at this time appears to be England's Jos Buttler, who has 3,869 runs to his name in 132 innings.

Pakistan level three-match series

Hosts Pakistan levelled the three-match series against South Africa after winning the second T20I by nine wickets at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Both teams will now face each other in the series decider at the same venue on Saturday, November 1.

Speaking about the second T20I, Faheem Ashraf returned with four wickets as Pakistan bundled out the Proteas for 110 in 19.2 overs. Opening batter Saim Ayub then returned with an unbeaten knock of 71 as Pakistan chased the target down easily.