Shoaib Malik becomes first Asian to score 10,000 runs in T20 cricket

Islamabad, Oct 11: Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik went past 10,000 T20 career runs when he scored 74 in a domestic game in Rawalpindi on Saturday. He is now the third batsman to have reached the landmark after Kieron Pollard (10,370 runs) and Chris Gayle (13,296 runs).

Shoaib’s quickfire knock (44b, 8×4, 2×6) was not enough, however, for a win for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the team he was playing for in the National T20 Cup. Khyber lost by six wickets to Balochistan.

Shoaib, 38, made his T20 debut in 2005 for Sialkot Stallions and has played 395 T20s in his career, scoring his 10,027 runs at an average of 37.41, with 62 half-centuries. He also has 148 wickets at 27.06, at an economy rate of 7.03.

The National T20 Cup is Shoaib’s first cricket assignment since a T20I series held in England last month. This was his first half-century of the competition so far, in five innings.