Babar Azam surpasses Virat Kohli to become fastest Asian batter to score 10000 international runs

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam completed 10000 runs in international cricket during Day 2 of the ongoing first Test match against Sri Lanka. He reached the milestone in 228 innings and is certainly on his way to becoming one of the greats at the international level for his country. Overall, he is the fifth fastest to the landmark and is the fastest among the Asian batters. Babar surpassed his Indian counterpart Virat Kohli in this aspect who had reached 10000 international runs in 232 innings.

Among the Asians, only India and Pakistan players dominate this list in the top five with Sunil Gavaskar, Javed Miandad and Sourav Ganguly completing the milestone in 243, 248 and 253 innings respectively. As for Kohli, the former Indian skipper has already amassed around 23700 runs in his international career and despite comparisons with the Pakistan skipper, the latter has a long way to go to match his class. However, Babar Azam is indeed a class player and is possibly in the best form of his life.

Fastest Asian to reach 10000 runs in international cricket (by innings)

Viv Richards is on top of the list

Meanwhile, West Indies legend Vivian Richards is on top of the list in this aspect as he completed his 10000 runs in international cricket in only 206 innings during his illustrious career. Another Caribbean batter in the list is Brian Lara who is at the third position having reached the milestone in his 220th outing for the West Indies at the highest level. Hashim Amla and Joe Root are the other two players in the top five as they completed 10000 runs in 217 and 222 innings respectively.

All these players went on to become legends with Root still the only active player on this list. Babar Azam is clearly on his way to becoming one of the best to have ever played the game but for that to happen, he will have to be consistent like he has been in the upcoming years.

Fastest Player to reach 10000 runs in international cricket (by innings)