Younis Khan, former Pakistan captain, and the country’s highest run-getter in Test cricket, believes that any comparison between Virat Kohli and Babar Azam is unfair at this stage, saying the latter needs five years more to be compared with one of the greatest batsmen of the modern era.
He said that the 25-year-old Babar, who was recently handed the captaincy of both ODI and T20I team and considered as the next big thing in cricket, still has a long way to go in his international career.
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The legendary batsman further added that Kohli is far more experienced than Babar and it is at least five years too early to compare the Pakistan star with Indian captain, saying the 30-year-old has proven himself in “every kind of situation” and “he is at the peak of his career”.
Younis was quoted as saying by Gulf News, “Virat Kohli is far more experienced than Babar. He has at least five years more experience of top cricket. You see, Kohli – who is now 31 and at the peak of his career – has been in international cricket for over a decade and has proved himself in all conditions. The 70 international centuries that he has scored is a testimony to his class and abilities,”
He further added, “Kohli has far more exposure than Babar and he has been in every kind of situation and proven himself. No one gets 70 international centuries like that and this is proof of his class and abilities. He has scored runs in every situation and all opposition.”
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Meanwhile, on Babar, Pakistan Test great said: “Babar, on the other hand, made his international debut barely five years back. He already has 16 centuries under his belt and shows very good averages in both Tests and ODIs, but it will be unfair to start comparing the two right now. If you have to, compare Babar five years (from now) with the dominance that Kohli is showing in his game today,”
Younis signed off by saying, “Babar has been in top cricket for just around five years. He has got a very impressive batting average across all three formats and he is getting better by the day. You see him batting and you can see he has got the same qualities that Kohli had at the start of his career.”
Noteworthy, Kohli has scored more than 20,000 runs so far with the help of 70 international hundreds and averages more than 50 in all three formats, while Babar has 6680 runs across formats so far.
(With PTI Inputs)
