Ian Bell: “Out of that four definitely Babar Azam but it’s Virat Kohli for me! Both amazing cover drivers”
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Former England batsman Ian Bell has heaped praise on Pakistan captain Babar Azam, saying he has an amazing cover drive.
Bell is not the only person to hold this opinion as many others have said that Azam’s cover drive is a thing of beauty.
His comments came when ESPNcricinfo asked who had the best cover drive.
While Azam, Sri Lanka’s Dhananjaya de Silva, England’s James Vince and Australia women’s captain Meg Lanning were chosen, Bell feels that India captain Virat Kohli is at the top of the list when it comes to the most elegant cover drive.
Out of that four definitely @babarazam258 but it’s @imVkohli for me!! Both amazing cover drivers!!
— Ian Bell (@Ian_Bell) May 19, 2021
“Out of that four definitely Babar Azam but it’s Virat Kohli for me! Both amazing cover drivers!” he said on Twitter.
Azam made scores of 103, 31 and 94 in the ODI series against South Africa, giving him a total of 228 runs at an average of 76.
As for the T20 series, he made 14 and 50 in the first two matches before hammering a career-best 122, which came off 59 balls and included 15 boundaries and four sixes, in the third T20 International.
In the fourth game, he was dismissed for 24 and thus finished with 210 runs in four matches at an average of 52.50 and a strike-rate of 143.83.
He amassed 95 runs in the three-match T20 series against Zimbabwe, which included a top score of 52, at an average of 31.66 and a strike-rate of 100.
During that series, he became the fastest batsman to score 2,000 runs in T20 Internationals.
In the Test series against Zimbabwe, he mustered two runs at an average of one.