PSL 2023: Babar Azam races to 9,000 T20 runs in record breaking time

Babar Azam became the fastest cricketer to score 9,000 runs in T20 cricket during the first Eliminator of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) being played at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore.

Babar reached the milestone in 245 innings.

Before Babar, the record was held by West Indies’ Chris Gayle who completed the same number of runs in 249 innings.

India's Virat Kohli crossed this milestone in 271 innings, while Australia's David Warner scored 9000 runs in 273 innings.

Previous records

Earlier, during the 27th match of the tournament, Babar Azam seemed to be in his best form as the right-handed batter smashed another 50 — the fastest 50 of his T20 career.

The Zalmi captain brought up his fourth fifty in the match against Multan Sultans, scoring the 50 in merely 24 balls.

The right-handed batter scored 73 off 39 balls to help Zalmi score 242-6 in 20 overs. It was also his 83rd 50+ score in T20s.

Two days before that, during the 25th fixture of the tournament Babar also achieved another milestone. The skipper scored his first PSL century.

Babar managed to score 115 runs at a strike rate of 171.66 during a match against Quetta Gladiators at the Pindi Cricket Stadium — silencing his critics. His knock consisted of 15 fours and three maximums.

In PSL alone, the national side skipper has scored 2893 runs in the 76 innings he has played since the maiden season of Pakistan’s premier league. While Babar has one ton to his name — which he smashed in the ongoing season — he has scored 28 50s to date.

Babar has smashed 316 fours and 46 sixes in the PSL seasons he featured in.