Babar Azam downplays comparisons with the likes of Virat Kohli and Steve Smith

Such was the undeniable talent of Babar Azam, that he started drawing comparisons with the best in the world even before he could find his feet properly in international cricket. The Pakistan batting mainstay arrived at the international stage with a bang as he took the world by storm. Babar’s performance in T20Is and ODIs caught everyone’s attention.

And in no time, he started drawing comparisons with none other than Virat Kohli, arguably the best batsman in the world right now. But he was still not regarded by many among the elites. Traditionally, the world of cricket has always regarded those batsmen the best who perform well across the formats. Unsurprisingly, Babar’s name was not taken in the same breath as that of the likes of Kohli or Steve Smith.

However, things are looking set to change in the coming days. The Pakistan T20I skipper has shown that he can be among the best batsmen in the world even in Tests after delivering a couple of solid performances in Australia. Babar was one of the very few positives for Pakistan on an otherwise dismal tour where they lost all the T20Is and the Tests.

Babar, who had a torrid time in Australia three years ago, looked class apart this time around. In two Tests, he scored 210 runs while the rest failed to impress. He scored a century at the Gabba and missed another at the Adelaide Oval by just three runs. Prior to the Test series, Babar had also scored two fifties in the three-match T20I series.

Babar Azam opens up on comparisons

With Babar impressing in Australia, the comparisons with the likes of Smith and Kohli have once again surfaced. But just like the previous times, the right-handed batsman has downplayed the comparisons once again. Babar made it clear that the comparisons are invalid since he has not played as much cricket as others have already played.

“I don’t think the comparison is valid at this stage. I haven’t played much, while the other players have played quite a lot. I have only played 23 Tests and (74) ODIs,” Babar told cricket.com.au.

“When I started cricket, my goal was to compete with the best. I wanted to do well for my country and to be among the top five batsmen in the world. My mindset was to complete with the 4-5 best batsmen in the world. You can produce good performances, but to maintain consistency you need lot of hard work,” he added.