India off-spinner R Ashwin has said that there is no need to write the names of Virat Kohli and Babar Azam in the same line. He felt that the time had come to end the debate between the two batters as there is no comparison between Babar with Kohli.

Babar was left out of the second Test against England by the PCB following a horrendous run in whites. This has led to several cricket experts and even Pakistan batter Fakhar Zaman comparing Babar Azam’s poor run of form with the one Virat Kohli endured from 2019-2022.

While Ashwin stated that he had no qualms about the Pakistani batter's quality and capacity to score runs, he also rejected comparisons between Babar and Kohli.

“Babar will definitely score runs if given a chance, he is a quality player. But, I feel we should end this debate once and for all. First of all, just because he is across the border, do not write Babar Azam and Virat Kohli’s names in the same line,” the 38-year-old asserted on his YouTube channel.

“I’m very sorry. I really rate Babar Azam, he is an incredible player. But, Virat Kohli’s credentials are something else. Across terrains, across times, across pressure situations, the kind of heists he has done is unprecedented in world cricket,” Ashwin added.

He went on to add that English batter Joe Root, who has been in stunning touch in recent times comes closest to the star Indian batter.

“At this point in time, the closest second is Joe Root,” Ashwin added.

Here is the video:

Babar Azam, along with Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah were rested for the rest of the England Test series. Babar has 19 innings in Tests without a fifty. In the first Test in Multan, Babar scored 30 and 5 as Pakistan lost by an innings and 47 runs.