He also recalled his last trip to Pakistan as ICC World XI side.
Amid the rapidly growing comparisons between Virat Kohli and Babar Azam, South African batsman Faf du Plessis said he sees similarities between the extremely high-quality players of the modern era.
Du Plessis, the former South African captain, is currently in Pakistan to represent Peshawar Zalmi in the play-offs of the fifth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2020.
The Proteas veteran admitted that the newly-appointed Pakistan all-format captain has got an exciting future and his exploits in T20 cricket have surprised many.
While India captain Kohli has 70 international centuries – 27 in Tests and 43 in ODIs and is the only batsman who averages over 50 in all formats of the game, Pakistan’s Babar is the only batsman who is ranked in the top five in all three formats of the game at the moment.
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Du Plessis told Cricket Pakistan: “I do [see similarities between Kohli and Babar]. They are extremely high-quality players. Babar, over the last year or so, has taken another step towards becoming one of the greats of the game so he has got an exciting future.”
He added, “I think he surprised a lot of people with his T20 cricket. People would have originally boxed him as a guy that hasn’t got a lot of power but certainly, of late his T20 game has been remarkable.”
The veteran batsman also recalled his last trip to Pakistan as World XI captain three years back, saying: “The last time I was here was for the World XI game which was really great to be a part of. The biggest thing for me was seeing the fans and how much it meant to them that cricket was being played in Pakistan again. It was a great part of my journey as a cricketer.”
Du Plessis signed off by saying, “It [under-19 tour] was a long time ago, I think it was 15 years ago or something like that. Back then we were also at the National Stadium in Karachi and to see the stadium after a really long time feels surreal.”