Pakistan’s limited-overs captain Babar Azam has been often compared to India’s master batsman and captain Virat Kohli despite having just 5 years' experience in the international arena.
The young gun Azam, who has scored 6680 across formats since making an international debut in 2015, is currently one of the top batting stars in the world in the current generation and the way he is making his way up the ladder that drawn comparisons with Kohli and Steve Smith – both the world-class batsmen are at their peak and dominating the game over the years.
Well, there is no doubt that Pakistan has found a superstar in Azam who is well on track to become one of the greats of the game in the future, however, when it comes to comparisons with Kohli and Smith, the right-hander has a long way to go to fall in the same category.
Recently, Pakistan Test captain Azhar Ali has also shared his take on the same. He admitted that Babar is on the rise at the moment, but he doesn’t get many opportunities like Kohli who has already established himself as one of the greats of the modern generation across the formats.
The 35-year-old further said Indian captain is still better in terms of his achievements, but when it comes to skills, Babar is not less than any cricketer at the moment. Though, he admitted that in terms of making an impact, playing match-winning knocks, and status, Kohli is already a legend.
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Ali said on the comparison between Kohli and Babar: “At the moment, Babar is on a rise. Maybe he doesn’t have any many opportunities as Virat Kohli but at the moment you have to say that Kohli is still better in terms of his achievements. Talking about skills, Babar is not less than any cricketer at the moment. But if we talk from the perspective of records, or match-winning knocks or achievements, Kohli has got more opportunities and Kohli’s status also as a player is big.”
The statement hints at that the comparison between these two isn’t right, as Kohli is currently 30 and has been at his peak over the past few years while Azam is just 25-year-old, who is performing significantly and is gaining fame for his performance and batting style.
Noteworthy, Kohli is currently the world’s second-best batsman in the Test, No. 1 ODI batsman while he is ranked 10th in the shortest format of the game, whereas Babar is the No.1 T20I batsman while he is ranked 3rd in ICC ODI rankings for batsmen and he is at the 5th spot in Tests.
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Meanwhile, the Test captain also revealed that Pakistan players are mentally ready for a situation where they had to face pay cuts due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Azhar signed off by saying, “It is not a good situation for any country and we know that if this lockdown situation continued for a few months, the Board might ask us to take pay cuts in the old or new central contacts. If such a situation arises that we are asked to take pay cuts we are mentally prepared for it and we will sit down with the Board and make the best decisions.”
(With Times Now Inputs)
