Babar Azam overtakes Virat Kohli in major T20I record ahead of 2026 T20 World Cup

The Pakistan national cricket team star batter Babar Azam established a new T20I record on Sunday by surpassing Virat Kohli to become the player with the most T20I half-centuries. The landmark achievement occurred when Pakistan completed their 3–0 series victory against Australia by winning the final match in Lahore which strengthened their confidence before the T20 World Cup.

Babar Azam’s milestone knock powers Pakistan to dominant series sweep

Babar Azam scored an unbeaten 50 during the third T20I match which established Pakistan's dominant batting performance and brought his total T20I half-centuries to 39 which made him the all-time player with most half-centuries in the format. His batting performance helped the team establish momentum after losing their first wickets by building a strong foundation which led to their successful conclusion. Pakistan finished their innings with a total of 207 runs for 6 wickets which proved to be an unreachable target for Australia.

The match itself turned into a one-sided affair. The Australian team lost its batting rhythm when Shaheen Shah Afridi took his first wicket and then Mohammad Nawaz destroyed their batting order by achieving his best T20I performance of 5 wickets for 18 runs. Pakistan achieved a decisive 111-run victory over Australia when they dismissed the visiting team for 96 runs in their third T20I series which marked the third time Pakistan had achieved a clean sweep against Australia in T20I matches after their previous successes in 2010 and 2018.

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Babar explained during the post-game interview that players need to understand how to read pitch conditions because this skill helps them execute match plans better than achieving personal records. He praised Saim Ayub for his aggressive batting style at the beginning of the innings and he thanked the Lahore audience for their continuous support throughout the entire match series.

Most half-centuries in T20I cricket

Ayub started the match with an impressive 56 runs from 37 balls while Shadab Khan scored 46 runs from 19 balls during his late batting attack to help Pakistan reach their final overs as they achieved 70 runs in their last five overs. The Australian team accepted their complete defeat after the captain Salman Ali Agha described the series as nearly perfect. 

Pakistan received its best possible timing for their emphatic series victory which included Babar's record-setting performance because the T20 World Cup will start on February 7 in India and Sri Lanka.