Sarfaraz Ahmed: “Just leave Babar Azam. There is no comparison between him and Virat. Virat is playing cricket for the last 14-15 years. Babar made his debut in 2015”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Sarfaraz Ahmed, the Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman, has called on people to stop comparing Pakistan captain Babar Azam to India batting superstar Virat Kohli.
The duo have constantly been compared to each other as former players, current cricketers, pundits and fans provide their opinions on which one of them is the better batsman.
However, Sarfaraz feels it is unfair, considering that Kohli has been playing international cricket a lot longer than Azam has.
“Just leave Babar Azam. There is no comparison between him and Virat. Virat is playing cricket for the last 14-15 years. Babar made his debut in 2015,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam recently scored 76 runs in two Test matches against Sri Lanka at an average of 25.33.
He then went on to amass 113 runs in three ODIs against Afghanistan, which included two fifties, at an average of 37.66.
Recently, he captained Pakistan in the Asia Cup and finished with 207 runs in five matches, which included a top score of 151, at an average of 51.75.
Pakistan were in good form at the start of the tournament as they started with a comprehensive 238-run win over Nepal before sharing one point apiece with India after their match was rained off.
Despite this, the men in green advanced to the Super Four stage and took down Bangladesh by seven wickets.
However, their positive momentum was stopped when India crushed them by 228 runs.
Pakistan had the chance to qualify for the Asia Cup final, but didn’t make it as they lost to Sri Lanka by two wickets via the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method (DLS) method.
Azam is now leading Pakistan in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup in India, where he has scored 5 and 10 in the team’s wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka respectively.
Next up for the men in green is a clash against India on October 14 in Ahmedabad.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Hasan Ali