Babar Azam speaks on being constantly compared with Virat Kohli

Pakistan cricketing fraternity never gets tired of comparing their batting stalwart Babar Azam with India skipper Virat Kohli. Kohli has set the benchmark for batting with his unprecedented consistency across formats. No matter what the conditions are or what the format is, the right-handed batsman has scored heavily in the last 4-5 years or so. Last month, Kohli bagged the top three honours at the International Cricket Council (ICC) Awards and became the first cricketer to do so.

Kohli was named Cricketer of the Year and won the Sir Garfield Sobers trophy for the second time in succession. He was named the best Test player of the year and also ODI player of the year after his extraordinary batting form in 2018. Kohli finished 2018 as the highest scorer in Test cricket with 1322 runs in 13 matches at an average of 55.08 with five hundreds and as many half-centuries while also finishing on top of the ODI runs tally with 1202 runs in 14 ODIs at 133.55 with six centuries.

Azam, on the other hand, has been showing promise too and looks set to create his own legacy. The 24-year old, who made three consecutive ODI hundreds against Windies just months after making his ODI debut,  has become Pakistan’s batting mainstay.  Last year, he became the fastest in terms of innings to 1000 T20I runs and in the process beat Virat Kohli. Not long ago he was the joint-fastest to 1000 ODI runs, sharing that record with two all-time greats, Sir Viv Richards and Kevin Pietersen. At just 24, he already has more ODI hundreds at No. 3 than any Pakistan batsman ever. Not surprisingly, he has been compared with Kohli time and again.

Babar plays down comparisons:

While his compatriots cannot get tired of comparing him with Kohli, Babar himself turned them down. In an interactive session ahead of the upcoming Pakistan Super League, the right-hander lavished praise on Kohli while saying that he still has a long way to go.

“Whenever you hear, people compare me with Virat Kohli. I think he is a very big player, I am not even close to him. I have just started while he has achieved a lot. I have to achieve and if I perform like that you can compare but not now,” he said.

Here’s the video of the interaction

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