The Babar Azam-Virat Kohli Comparison- The Pakistani batting sensation Babar Azam is a very popular figure in the cricketing world currently. Over the years, he has improved in his performances and is now one of the top batsmen in the world. Recently, the PCB even elected him as the new Pakistan T20 and ODI captain.
Babar’s steady growth and success over the recent years have caught the eye of several cricket experts all over the world. They have even started comparing him to the likes of Kane Williamson and Virat Kohli. Kohli is currently the best batsman in the world without any doubt. People have started drawing comparisons between Babar and Virat nowadays.
Babar Azam was part of a recent interaction with Harsha Bhogle on Cricbuzz. The Lahore born talked about his comparisons with the Indian Captain Virat Kohli. He revealed that he is still quite far behind from the position where Kohli is currently. Babar dreams of batting like Kohli and winning matches for Pakistan on his own. He has already scored 3359 runs in the 74 ODIs. He has a very good batting average of 54.2 and added to that he has scored 11 centuries.
What did Babar say about Virat Kohli?
“He is one of the best players. I am far behind. I have a lot to achieve yet. I will try to become a player like him and win matches for Pakistan and create records,” Babar told Cricbuzz.
Babar Azam is still far away from the humongous records Virat Kohli has set. However, the Pakistani star is right on track according to his performances.
Babar reveals an incident when he first saw Shoaib Akhtar bowl
He even talked about the incident when he first saw Shoaib Akhtar bowl. Babar featured in the Pakistani U-19 team in 2010 and 2012. He even went on to describe an incident when Akhtar bowled to him.
“When I saw Shoaib Akhtar bowl for the first time, I realized how quick he was. There used to be U19 camps where they used to let us bat as well. Shoaib Bhai also used to come there occasionally. He used to bowl towards the end. Once he called me and told me that I had to block the deliveries and not drive. I blocked two balls and then hit a drive. Whenever he used to come there, he used to call me and bowl at me. While he used to bowl length deliveries to me, he once bowled a bouncer by mistake,” Azam said.
The comparisons keep coming and going. It is a generational thing. However, some fans prefer Virat Kohli, while others favour the Pakistani cricketer. There is no end to this debate, which could go either way. Both players have their sets of fans and Pundits, who favour one over the other.
Virat Kohli obviously is the senior and has more experience. On the other hand, Babar still has age on his side. What happens next, only time will tell. Despite that, it is good to see this rivalry flourish.
