Former Pakistan skipper Zaheer Abbas showered Indian skipper Virat Kohli and current Pakistan skipper Babar Azam with praises and called the duo the most premier modern-day batsmen in world cricket at the moment.

“Captain of the Indian team, Virat Kohli is up there. There is no doubt that he is one of the best batsmen in the world. Then there's our hero, Babar Azam and may god give him a long career and get more good performances out of him,” Abbas told Cricket Pakistan.

“He's really god. You've asked me a tough question but I believe these are the only two batsmen in the world whose styles are being copied,” he added.

Babar recently broke Kohli’s record and became the fastest batsman to score 2000 runs in T20 cricket, getting to the milestone in 52 innings, while the Indian captain took 56 innings to get there.

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Abbas then praised the young batsmen for playing some of the shots like Kohli and Babar in the IPL and then commended the latter for his amazing contribution in Pakistan cricket.

“I have seen a few batsmen doing it. In the IPL, I watched a couple of games, and there were batsmen playing the cut shot through slips and gully. So such shots have become common and so many batsmen are playing them,” the 73-year-old said.

“So, I feel we must set our own example. As long as we don't do that, we can't improve standards. Thanks to Babar. He is doing well. All Pakistanis are proud of him and hope he continues to dish out impressive performances and win more matches for the country,” the former Pakistan cricketer added.

(With Cricket Pakistan inputs)