Whenever a young Pakistani batsman does well at the international level, their fans and media compare him with the Indian batting legends. Earlier, Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar used to be the parameter of their comparison and nowadays Virat Kohli enjoys the same privilege.
Before Babar Azam’s emergence as Pakistan's best batsman across all forms of the game, the likes of Umar Akmal and Ahmad Shahzad used to get constantly compared with Kohli and it affected their performances for some reasons.
Recently, Shahzad touched this topic in an exclusive chat with Cricket Pakistan and advised people against comparing Indian skipper with any other player.
“Virat Kohli is a proven player and he cannot be compared with any other player; be it me or anyone else,” Shahzad said.
“He has set great standards of fitness. I think he is an amazing guy and I wish him all the best,” he further added.
Shahzad, who was dropped from the national team after failing to perform in his last series against Sri Lanka, also vowed to make a strong comeback.
“I was making a comeback and was under a lot pressure. We did not perform well as a team and they [Sri Lanka] played really well. Some things are bound to happen but this is cricket and I will come back harder,” the 28-year-old stated.
“I have learned from my mistakes in the past but I still have a lot of cricket left in me. I just want to make sure that whenever I represent Pakistan again, I’m able to perform to the best of my ability and make my country proud,” he continued.
Shahzad also showered rich praise on Pakistan’s white-ball captain Babar Azam, who features in the top 10 rankings for batsmen in all three formats.
“Babar Azam is a role model for youngsters and we should all follow his work ethics. He has done really well as batsman and I hope that he can do the same while leading the side,” he said.
