With 12,000 Runs and 11 Hundreds, Is Babar Azam the Greatest T20 Batter? | Is Babar Azam the greatest T20 batter? That’s a question that has been asked many times. Recently, after the encounter between Peshawar Zalmi and Karachi Kings in the HBL PSL 2026, Babar Azam completed 12,000 runs in T20 cricket. He became the 12th batter to achieve this feat. He is in the list along with the likes of Faf du Plessis, Quinton de Kock, Rohit Sharma, James Vince, Shoaib Malik, Virat Kohli, Joss Buttler, David Warner, Alex Hales, Kieron Pollard, and Christopher Henry Gayle.
It’s not just about the runs. Babar Azam has also scored 11 T20 hundreds. This is the second most by any batter in the history of T20 cricket. Only Chris Gayle has scored more centuries than Babar Azam (22). Chris Gayle scored 22 hundreds in 463 matches, while Babar Azam has 11 hundreds in 349 matches.
When we talk about T20 cricket, strike rate is something that cannot go unnoticed. Babar Azam’s strike rate of 128 is the second lowest in the list of batters who have scored 12,000 or more runs in T20 cricket. The only batter who has a lower strike rate than Babar Azam in this list is Shoaib Malik, with a strike rate of 127.
In the recent past, Babar Azam has been under scrutiny by the fans for his poor performance in T20 cricket. Recently, he failed to justify his selection in the Pakistan T20 side as the opening slot was already taken by Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub, and in the middle order, Babar Azam could not really shift gears with the bat.
Despite all the limitations, Babar Azam has a decorated T20 career. In 349 matches, Babar Azam has over 12,000 runs with 11 centuries and 98 half-centuries. He surely will go down as one of the most prominent names of T20 cricket.
