Five T20I records which will be impossible to break for Babar Azam

The introduction of the shorter format in international cricket has certainly revolutionised the game to an extent. It has increased the pace as the bowlers and batsmen usually have very less time to showcase their talent during the game. Some players have managed to cope up with it whereas some have been left behind.

Earlier, there was the group of fab-four batsmen that comprised of Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson and Joe Root, who are rated as the best batsmen in world cricket. Meanwhile, there is one more batsman from Pakistan that has etched his name in the history of cricket and that is Babar Azam.

Babar Azam, the 25-year-old from Pakistan is a sublime batsman. He has emerged as the run-making machine for his national side in the last couple of years. The cricketing fraternity has started making his comparison with the likes of Virat Kohli and Steve Smith due to his consistency. He is currently the number one batsmen in the T20I rankings released by ICC.

It means he is the best in the business when comes to the shorter format in international cricket. But, there are certain streaks and records that will be difficult for Babar Azam to break in his international career.

So let’s check out the records that will be difficult for Babar Azam to break in T20Is:

1. Highest T20I individual score

Aaron Finch, the right-hand Aussie opener earned his reputation as one of the skilful hitter in international cricket. Moreover, he has proved his mantle again and again on the back of his sublime hitting.  He played his career-best knock in T20I against Zimbabwe in Harare. He muscled a total of 172 runs off 76 balls including 16 boundaries and 10 sixes. It is the highest score by a batsman in T20Is made by Finch back in 2018 that stands out till date.

Meanwhile, it is almost an impossible task for Babar Azam to go past that score in an innings as his style doesn’t allow him to go against each and every ball bowled by a bowler. Moreover, he is not regarded as an explosive batsman who can hit sixes on any ball.

Babar takes time to get settle before taking the charge against the bowler. And if he has to break that record in T20Is, then he will have to start smashing boundaries from the word go in the match. And, it is not an easy task for such a technically sound batter.

2. Fastest T20I hundred

In T20Is, the record of scoring fastest ton is jointly held by David Miller from South Africa and Rohit Sharma from India. The duo scored their centuries off 35 balls against respective teams. This is another record that is quite difficult for Babar Azam to break in his T20I career.

David Miller smacked his fastest ton against Bangladesh whereas Rohit Sharma did the same against Sri Lanka. The common thing in both the innings was the strike rate of the batsmen that was near around 280 which is way more than the T20I career strike rate of Babar Azam.

The most important fact about Azam’s T20I career is that he only once played with a strike rate of more than 200. And, this shows less is the probability for him to score the fastest ton in international cricket.

3. Most runs in an over

The record for scoring most runs in an over by a player is held by none other than former all-rounder Yuvraj Singh from India. In the inaugural T20 World Cup, he smacked six off six deliveries bowled by Englands fast bowler Stuart Broad. It was a historic day for Team India and for Yuvraj in international cricket. It has been more than 13 years and still, no batsmen have managed to at least score that many runs in an over. So, breaking that record is a way different topic.

Babar Azam is the number one batsman in the latest rankings of batsmen released by ICC. But, it is almost impossible for him to smack six sixes in a row in an over. So, this is the third record that is almost an impossible task for the Pakistani batsmen to do in the shorter format.

4. Most sixes in an innings

The fans will be surprised to know that the record for hitting most sixes in an innings is held by an Afghanistan batsman. Hazratullah Zazai, the right-hand opener smacked 16 sixes in his record-breaking knock of 162 runs against Ireland back in the concluded year.

It is well known that Babar Azam is not a very hard-hitting batsman. His game mostly relies on timing against the bowlers. For hitting that amount of sixes in an international game, a player needs to have a strong built. Moreover, he should have a batting style of such a fashion.  And, the possibility that Babar Azam smokes more than 16 sixes in his knock looks bleak.

5. Highest strike-rate in T20Is (overall career)

Babar Azam opens the innings for Pakistan in the shorter format. And, he has been doing the same for quite some time now. He has reaped immense success at that position and his team has managed to get significant results due to the same.

However, his strike rate has always been a problem with him as he fails to smack sixes and boundaries from the word go. Meanwhile, his competitors like Aaron Finch and Colin Munro also opens the innings for their national teams. and they are way capable of taking the charge against the bowlers from the very first ball. And, the difference is quite visible in their strike rates.

In 50 innings, Finch and Munro had a strike rate off and around 150 plus. Also, a batsman like Glenn Maxwell, who comes out to bat in the middle has a scoring rate of 165. For Babar, going past that strike rate is quite difficult. At the moment, he has scored 1471 runs in 38 games with a strike rate of around 128. And, he has to deliver blistering knocks consistently in the next 12 innings in order to outclass that record.