Mohammad Amir: “He is the best in this era. He just cannot be compared”
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Pakistan left-arm seamer Mohammad Amir said not even Babar Azam can be compared to India batting superstar Virat Kohli.
Azam is one of the elite batsmen in the world in all three formats, with some even classing him as the best of the lot.
However, Amir bestowed Kohli with the title of the “best in this era” and feels no one is even in the same class as the 34-year-old, who is currently representing India in their four-Test series against Australia.
“I’ve told this in many interviews, why do I say Virat Kohli is my favourite? He is the best in this era. He just cannot be compared! It’s because I have bowled to him as well and the level of temperament, the mindset he carries towards the game, his work ethic, and the way he handles the pressure, I don’t think in this time any batsman can handle this sort of pressure as he did,” Amir said in a video shared by ICA Sports as quoted by NDTV.
“People begin comparing him with different batsmen. He just does not have any comparisons. And yes, this has been one of his best innings in T20 (82 not out against Pakistan) and he has said it himself. Out of nowhere, he just took the game away from Pakistan. And this is the recognition of a big player, people say he wasn’t in form, but a big player is that who steps up in high-pressure situations and what Virat did, only he could have done!”
Azam is currently captaining the Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he has scored 68 and 9 in his first two matches against the Karachi Kings and Multan Sultans respectively.
The Zalmi’s next match will be against the Quetta Gladiators on Monday.
As for Amir, he is representing the Kings and went wicketless in their loss to the Zalmi. He followed it up with two wickets in the team’s four-wicket defeat against Islamabad United.
The Kings will be back in action on Saturday as they will face the Gladiators.
Peshawar Zalmi Squad for PSL 8: Babar Azam, Rovman Powell, Bhanuka Rajapaksa (Sri Lanka), Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Sherfane Rutherford, Wahab Riaz, Arshad Iqbal, Danish Aziz, Mohammad Haris, Aamer Jamal, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Saim Ayub, Salman Irshad, Usman Qadir, Haseebullah Khan, Sufyan Muqeem, James Neesham, Khurram Shahzad, Haris Sohail and Richard Gleeson