Shoaib Malik becomes first Asian batter to complete 11,000 T20 runs
KARACHI: Veteran Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik added another feather to his cap on Thursday as he became the first Asian batter to complete 11,000 runs in T20 cricket.
The 39-year-old cricketer reached this milestone while playing for Central Punjab against Southern Punjab in the National T20 match at Lahore’s Gadaffi stadium. Batting for Central Punjab, Malik completed the feat en route to his 24-ball 26 in Lahore.
Malik’s 26, together with Hussain Tait’s 47-ball 68 helped Central Punjab set a target of 155 runs. He achieved the feat during his 411th T20 inning and he is one of only four players with experience of over 400 professional T20 matches.
The 39-year-old is one of the only two active cricketers who made international debuts in the 1990s, and are still available for selection to their respective countries — the other one is Chris Gayle of West Indies.
Overall, Malik is the third batsman to the feat after the West Indies pair of Chris Gayle, who has scored 14276 runs in 448 matches in the format, and Kieron Pollard, who has scored 11223 runs in 567 T20 games.
With 67 scores of 50s+, Malik is also Pakistan’s leading player in the list of players with the most numbers of scores over 50 (including centuries). He is followed by Babar Azam with 65 such scores in the list.
