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Babar Azam surpasses Virat Kohli to create incredible Asian record during Sri Lanka vs Pakistan 1st Test
Pakistan captain Babar Azam reached an incredible feat, as he surpassed Virat Kohli for an Asian record during the first Test against Sri Lanka.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam crossed a major milestone in his international career in the ongoing Test match against Sri Lanka, as he scored his 10,000th run in international cricket, furthering his claim as one of the best all-format batters in world cricket. Now the captain of Pakistan in all formats of the game, Babar has been a consistent run-scoring machine in red and white ball cricket both, and broke Pakistan's record for the fastest player to reach that landmark in their cricketing history.
Babar accomplished the feat in 228 innings, beating the previous Pakistan record held by Javed Miandad by a significant 20 innings. Currently the number one ranked batsman in both T20 and ODI cricket, Babar has shown his ability to rack up the runs ever since his inclusion in the team in 2015, truly breaking out as one of the finest players in the game in the last few years.
While he sits comfortably at the top of the list for Pakistani batters, he also comes in at fifth among all batters all-time, behind only Sir Vivian Richards (206), Hashim Amla (217), Brian Lara (220), and Joe Root (222), and ahead of players such as Virat Kohli and Steve Smith (both 232).
His splits across the three formats are also an indication of his quality to adapt, averaging above 46 in Test cricket, above 45 in T20Is, and nearly 60 in ODIs — numbers that any batter would be proud to call their own. He also has centuries in all three formats, one of only three Pakistani batters to have accomplished that feat.
As captain, Babar is trying to guide a new wave of Pakistani cricket, as the side eyes success in big tournaments. The team had an impressive run in the T20 World Cup last year, and will be looking to better their semi-final finish later this year, before setting their eyes towards the ODI World Cup in India next year.
Babar Azam has also recently been in the news for using Twitter to share a word of encouragement with Kohli, who is going through a tough patch of form with the bat.
At the time of writing, Babar Azam was fighting a lone battle in Galle, as Pakistan struggle to catch up to Sri Lanka's first innings score of 222. At lunch, Pakistan found themselves at 104-7, with Babar having scored 34 at that stage with no support from the rest of the team. Currently in fourth in the WTC table, Pakistan are seeking a strong set of results in the upcoming Test series, and will be hoping Babar can inspire them towards a finals berth next year.
