By News18,Rudransh Khurana

Copyright news18

United Arab Emirates captain Muhammad Waseem created history on Monday as he surpassed 3,000 T20I career runs while batting against Oman in the 2025 Asia Cup. He scored 69 (54) at a strike rate of 127.78 with six fours and three sixes. He looked in control and had some luck going his way, too, until being caught short of his crease off Aryan Bisht’s throw due to some shabby running for a second in the last over.
In the process, he became the fastest, by balls, to surpass the 3,000-run landmark. The right-hander took only 1,947 balls for it, 121 fewer than England’s superstar, Jos Buttler. Aaron Finch (2,077 balls), David Warner (2,113), and Rohit Sharma (2,149) complete the list.
He’s not too far off in terms of fewest innings for 3,000 runs, taking only 84 appearances to get to the mark. Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan is the quickest in 79 innings, followed by his compatriot Babar Azam and India’s Virat Kohli, who are tied for 81. Waseem fits in at number four. Further, Waseem is only the second player from an Associate nation to get to 3,000 T20I runs after Virandeep Singh of Malaysia.
It needs to be noted that the UAE don’t face too many full-member nations in the format. They are among the better-performing associate nations, but still a level below the top nations. However, that doesn’t take away anything from Waseeem’s historic record, which might stay with him for years to come.
UAE post 172/5 against Oman
Skipper Waseem and opener Alishan Sharafu smashed fast fifties, helping UAE score 172 for five against Oman in their Asia Cup group match on Monday. Waseem led from the front, while Sharafu hit 51 off 38 balls after a shaky start.
Oman’s left-arm medium pacer Jiten Ramanandi slowed UAE’s progress with figures of 2/24 in four overs.
After a quiet start, Sharafu got a boundary off Shah Faisal, despite Shakeel Ahmed controlling the run rate from the other end. The openers’ urgency helped UAE score 50 runs in the powerplay.
Oman skipper Jatinder Singh brought in left-arm seamer Jiten Ramanandi, and Sharafu hit him for a boundary through the off-side. Jatinder introduced leg-spinner Samay Shrivastava, but both Sharafu and Waseem hit a six each, continuing the assault.
Waseem got lucky as Hammad Mirza dropped his catch in the deep, with UAE reaching 83 for no loss in 10 overs. Waseem received another chance right after the drinks break, with Shakeel misjudging the ball.
Ramanandi finally gave Oman a breakthrough, bowling Sharafu and disturbing the off-stump after the batter missed a shot through the off-side. Both Oman and UAE lost their opening matches to Pakistan and India respectively.