3 players who took the least innings to reach 10,000 T20I runs
T20 cricket has changed the landscape of cricket worldwide. The exposure to cricket was mostly limited to commonwealth countries but with the advent of T20 cricket, it has popularized the game and made it more audience friendly. Now with the increasing commercialization of cricket, T20 is becoming the most popular form of the game.
T20 is a format which is mostly dominated by the batters. When we think of T20 batting, we mostly think of sixes, boundaries, and explosive batting.
Consistency is not something that we associate with T20 cricket as averages take a backseat and strike rate takes precedence. Some batters have mastered the skill of T20 so perfectly that they have been able to maintain the balance of sheet of consistency and a healthy strike rate. Therefore, in this article, we will delve into the top three players with the least innings to 10,000 T20 runs:
1. Babar Azam
Babar Azam has been Pakistan’s most prolific run-scorer in recent times across all formats. Pakistan which is famously known for producing world-class bowlers has after a long time produced a batter who has been an all-format player but his numbers in T20s have been astonishing.
He has etched his name in history, becoming the fastest player to reach 10,000 runs in T20 cricket. He achieved this incredible feat in just 271 innings, surpassing the previous record held by Chris Gayle (285 innings). Azam’s record-breaking moment came during a match against Karachi Kings in the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL). Needing just six runs to reach the milestone, he smashed another boundary sport to etch his name in the record books.
This remarkable feat is a testament to Azam’s consistent brilliance in the shortest format. Throughout his career, he represented 19 different T20 teams, showing his talent and adaptability across various leagues and competitions.
2. Chris Gayle
Chris Gayle famously known as the ‘Universe Boss’ is considered to be an all-time T20 great. The dangerous Jamaican batter is one of the most dangerous hitters of the cricket ball to ever play the game. Although Gayle has been an all-format player over his long career and has played more than 100 test matches he is best known for his explosive batting in the T20 format.
Gayle’s tryst with T20 cricket started from the first ever T20 World that took place in South Africa where he scored a scintillating 117 runs in just 57 balls to notch up the first-ever century in T20I century since then he took the T20 format like fish to water.
Before Babar Azam, the record of fastest player to reach 10,000 T20 runs was held by Chris Gayle. He is the only player to have more than 14,000 runs in T20 cricket and is the only player to hit more than 1000 sixes in this format which signifies how special he has been in this format of the game.
3. Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli is arguably the best all-format batter of the contemporary era. He is popularly known as ‘King Kohli’ for ruling all three formats of the game at once. He once averaged 50 plus in all three formats. To become a great all-format player, you need to adapt yourself well according to the situation and that has been Virat’s biggest strength over the years which is why he has been able to juggle between all the three formats so consistently.
In T20 cricket, Virat Kohli is the third-fastest player to reach the milestone of 10,000 T20 runs as he took just 299 innings to achieve this feat. Virat Kohli holds the record for most runs in a single season of the IPL, which is considered to be the biggest T20 league in the world. In the 2016 season of the IPL, Virat amassed 973 runs in 16 innings at a mind-boggling average of 81.
