Virat Kohli vs Babar Azam: Decoding the stats (T20I cricket)
India will lock horns with arch-rivals Pakistan in their opening clash of the 2021 T20 World Cup. Virat Kohli is geared up to lead Team India for the first time in this tournament. He is the leading run-scorer in T20 Internationals presently. On the other hand, Babar Azam has been Pakistan's most prolific batter lately. Here is a statistical comparison between the two players.
Kohli is the highest run-scorer in T20I cricket
Kohli is the highest run-scorer in T20I cricket. In a career spanning over a decade, he has amassed 3,159 runs from 90 T20Is (strike rate of 139.04). Kohli became the first player to register 3,000 runs in the format. He is followed by Martin Guptill (2,939) and Rohit Sharma (2,864). Moreover, Kohli is the only player with a T20I average of over 50 (52.65).
Third-most runs for Pakistan in T20Is
Babar is one of the finest batters from Pakistan across formats. In T20Is, he has amassed 2,204 runs from 61 matches at a remarkable average of 46.89. He owns 20 half-centuries and also has a T20I ton. He is one of the three Pakistani batters to have scored over 2,000 runs in the format (Mohammad Hafeez: 2,429 and Shoaib Malik: 2,335).
Fastest to 2,000 T20I runs
Babar recently became the fastest batter to 2,000 runs in T20I cricket. He achieved the milestone in April 2021, in his 52nd innings. He took four years and 230 days to reach this landmark. Notably, Kohli was the previous record-holder (56 innings).
Kohli and Babar average over 50 in successful run-chases
Kohli is the only player with over 1,000 runs in successful run-chases. He has racked up 1,408 runs from 29 innings at an astonishing 108.30 in winning cause (run-chases). The Indian captain has remained unbeaten 16 times while completing the run-chases. Meanwhile, Babar has scored 660 runs at an average of 50.76 in these matches. His only T20I ton came in a winning cause.
A look at their captaincy record
Kohli has led Team India in 45 T20 Internationals as of now. In his leadership, India have won 29 and lost 14 matches (NR: 2). Meanwhile, Babar has captained Pakistan in 28 matches, winning 15 of them (Lost: 8, NR: 5). Kohli has second-most runs as captain in T20Is (1502 runs at 48.45). Besides, Babar owns 914 runs at 43.52 while leading.
