Babar Azam breaks Virat Kohli

Image Source : GETTY IMAGES Babar Azam. Pakistan captain Babar Azam shattered yet another record of Virat Kohli in a span of just 15 days during the fourth T20I against England at The Oval in London on May 30. Babar, 29, has become the leading run-scorer in T20I history against England after moving past India’s modern-day legend. Leading into the fourth T20I, Babar needed 16 runs to surpass Virat who has 639 runs against the Three Lions in the shortest format of the sport. Babar scored 36 off 22 balls with the help of five fours and a six and created a new all-time record as he now has 660 runs against the two-time T20 world champions. However, to Babar’s misery, Pakistan lost the fourth T20I and conceded the series 2-0 following a below-par performance on the field.  Pakistan were unlucky with the coin flip and were put into bat by the England captain Jos Buttler. All of Pakistan’s top three batters (Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam and Usman Khan) got off to positive starts but failed to convert them into huge scores. Pakistan’s middle order collapsed in front of a well-oiled English bowling attack and the visitors only managed to put 157 on the board. Phil Salt and Buttler dashed the little hopes Pakistan had of defending the total as they aggregated 82 for the opening wicket in just 6.2 overs. Though Pakistan managed to remove both openers in quick succession, the ship had already sailed by then.  England registered a thumping seven-wicket win with 27 balls to spare and finished the series with a strong 2-0 statement. Babar was disappointed after Pakistan failed to salvage their pride and urged the middle-order batters to “step up”. “After six overs we were doing very well, but then I got out, the middle-order needs to step up. England’s bowling is very good, so have to take any chance. Need to sort out those things for the World Cup. A few injuries but a lot of positives, our play is good in patches, but to win you need 100%,” Babar said during the post-match presentation.