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Virat Kohli, Babar Azam Overtaken By France Batter In This Unique T20I Record

image-lk06z3qxGustav Mckeon in action for France (Twitter)

Indian batting veteran Virat Kohli and Pakistan skipper Babar Azam are considered as two of the finest T20I batters from their respective countries. Statistically, captain Azam is the fourth highest T20I run-getter in the world and the highest from Pakistan. Moreover, Kohli leads the all-time pack as he is the only international batter to have registered over 4,000 runs in the format.

While the two cricketers hold a legion of world T20I records, they were both recently usurped by a certain France batter in an interesting statistical landmark. The batter in question is a 19-year-old Gustav Mckeon, who just unleashed another match-winning effort for his country.

Mckeon topples Azam, Kohli, Rizwan for this record

Gustav Mckeon made his international debut for France in July 2022, with a T20 World Cup Sub Regional Europe Qualifier game against Czech Republic. The youngster belted a 54-ball 76 in his first ever innings to script a memorable win for his country.

In his latest innings, he clubbed a rapid 44 at the top of the order against Malta in the opening fixture of the 2023 Valletta Cup.

So far in his first 10 outings, the right-handed batter has already plundered a staggering 625 runs at an average of 69.44, with two tons and four half-centuries to his credit.

Interestingly, his 10-outing aggregate makes him the highest-run scorer across 10 consecutive T20I innings. Babar Azam held the previous record for Pakistan with 565 runs. His opening partner Mohammed Rizwan now stands third on the list with 560 runs while Virat Kohli, who belted 542 runs in 10 successive innings back in 2016 has been pushed down to fourth.

The most striking accomplishment about Mckeon remains that the youngster achieved the feat in his first 10 innings. The batsman also never played any level of competitive T20 cricket prior to his international debut.

Mckeon also holds a couple of other T20I records to his name. For instance, he is one of only two batters in the world, South African Rilee Rossouw being the other, to have registered centuries in consecutive T20I innings. He is also one of only six batters in history to have crossed the 50-run mark in four successive outings.