Babar Azam extends 2020s dominance with major career milestone

Pakistan’s star batter Babar Azam has strengthened his reputation as one of the most consistent performers of the current era during the second Test against Bangladesh in Sylhet on Sunday. Babar played a determined innings of 68 off 84 balls, striking 10 boundaries, and in the process became the first batter to cross 9,000 international runs in the 2020s. He achieved this landmark in his 212th international match of the decade, reflecting remarkable consistency across all formats. Over this period, he has accumulated 67 half-centuries and 17 centuries at an average of 42.53. He continued to lead the run-scoring charts for the decade, ahead of England’s Joe Root, who has scored 8,305 runs. Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan follows in third place with 7,779 runs from 199 appearances. Leading international run scorers in the 2020s: Babar Azam (Pakistan) – 9,060 runs Joe Root (England) – 8,305 runs Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan) – 7,779 runs Kusal Mendis (Sri Lanka) – 7,046 runs Pathum Nissanka (Sri Lanka) – 6,873 runs Virat Kohli (India) – 6,771 runs Litton Das (Bangladesh) – 6,763 runs Babar also matched a notable ICC World Test Championship (WTC) record during the same Test, equalling Australia’s Steve Smith in terms of half-centuries. The right-hander brought up his 31st Test fifty and recorded his 20th half-century in the WTC, placing him joint third on the all-time list alongside Smith and England’s Zak Crawley. In the WTC standings for most fifties, England’s Joe Root is second with 22, while Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne leads the chart with 24. Bangladesh take control of Sylhet Test after restricting Pakistan to 232