Zaheer Abbas also favored India to win the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
Legendary Pakistani cricketer Zaheer Abbas has weighed in on the debate of who is a better batter, Virat Kohli of India or Babar Azam of Pakistan. Abbas said that comparing the two was baseless as the India superstar was a more consistent run-scorer than his Pakistani counterpart.
Babar Azam is considered to be one of the best batters of this generation, while Virat Kohli is a bonafide legend of the game and is considered to be one of the ‘Fab Four’ batters along with Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, and Joe Root.
"Yeh fizool ki baatein hai (the comparisons are pointless). Virat Kohli scores in every match the other player (Babar) doesn't score in any match so then how can you compare. The person who scores, he is the bigger player," Abbas told PTI on the sidelines of the Cricket Predicta Conclave here.
Kohli has 80 international hundreds to his career, but the much younger Babar has 31 centuries across formats.
Zaheer Abbas played 78 Tests and 62 ODIs for Pakistan, accumulating 5062 and 2572 runs respectively. He was called Asian Bradman for his huge appetite for runs and is the only Asian batter to score more than 100 First-Class hundreds.
Abbas also complimented Team India's consistency across forms, predicting that the Rohit Sharma-led team will be a strong contender for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 to be hosted by Pakistan.
"Indian team overall is very good. Their batters are doing well and the bowlers both are good. It is a very balanced team, one that plays soch samajh kar (thoughtfully). They have a very good captain, who understands cricket very well. So, when everything is going in your favor it is smooth sailing. That's the case with India right now,” Abbas said.
"There is a very good chance of them doing well (at the Champions Trophy) because they have a balanced team," the 77-year-old concluded.