Pakistan's tour of New Zealand has started on a sour note as they went down by 46 runs chasing down 227 runs in the first T20I of the five-match series. Babar Azam was the only batter who looked like believing in the chase as others crumbled under pressure. The former Pakistan skipper who was demoted to number three for batting slowly was the top-scorer smashing 57 runs at a strike-rate of 162.86. No Pakistan batter played more than 15 deliveries in the innings while Babar faced 35 balls and fought valiantly for his side.
With this knock, Pakistan's new number three in the shortest format got ever so closer to yet another record. Babar Azam is set to add another feather to his cap mostly in the second T20I that is set to take place on January 14 at the Seddon Park in Hamilton. He needs only 29 runs to complete a mammth 9000 runs away from home in international cricket. He has so far scored 8971 runs in 230 innings at an average of 43.97 with 16 centuries and 65 half-centuries to his name.
Babar is also only two runs away from going past Kane Williamson in this aspect. New Zealand's white-ball captain has scored 8972 runs in 233 innings away from home at an average of 44.19 so far but he is currently playing at home and Babar Azam looks set to go past him.
Moreover, the 29-year-old will also become the ninth player from Pakistan to reach the landmark of 9000 runs in international cricket while playing away from home with Inzamam-ul-Haq being on top having amassed 14197 runs in 408 innings of his career. Interestingly, India's Virat Kohli is way ahead of Babar Azam in terms of scoring runs away from home with 14744 runs in his career so far and looks set to add more runs to his tally in the upcoming years.
Most runs among active players away from home
| Players | Runs |
| Virat Kohli | 14744 |
| Rohit Sharma | 10141 |
| David Warner | 9184 |
| Joe Root | 9096 |
| Kane Williamson | 8972 |
| Babar Azam | 8971 |
