Ravichandran Ashwin: “I feel we should end this debate once and for all. First of all, across the border, Babar Azam and Virat Kohli shouldn’t be mentioned in the same line”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin doesn’t want Pakistan batsman Babar Azam compared to Virat Kohli as he feels there are not on the same level.
Azam and Kohli have been compared constantly for years as they are considered to the backbone of Pakistan and India’s batting line-ups respectively.
However, given what Kohli has achieved for India, Ashwin feels that Azam hasn’t reached those heights yet, even though he is an “outstanding player”.
“I feel we should end this debate once and for all. First of all, across the border, Babar Azam and Virat Kohli shouldn’t be mentioned in the same line,” he said on his YouTube channel as quoted by NDTV.
“I am very sorry, I really rate Babar Azam as an outstanding player, but Virat Kohli’s credentials are something else. Across terrains, across times, across pressure situations, the kind of heists he has done, no one has done that in world cricket. As far as I know, at this point, if any one comes close, it is Joe Root in Test cricket.”
Azam recently featured in Pakistan’s two-Test series against Bangladesh and was limited to 64 runs at an average of 16.
He then represented the Stallions in the Champions One-Day Cup, which was a domestic 50-over competition that took place in Faisalabad.
In four games, he scored 230 runs, which included a century and a fifty, at an average of 76.66.
Afterwards, Azam was involved in the three-Test series against England, but only played the first Test in Multan, where he made scores of 30 and 5.
The 30-year-old was subsequently removed from the team for the second and third Tests, but Pakistan still proceeded to claim a 2-1 win, which was their first Test series victory on home soil since 2021.
Azam is now in action in Pakistan’s limited overs series against Australia, which consists of three ODIs and three T20Is.
In the first two ODIs, he made 37 and 15 not out respectively.
Once the tour of Australia concludes, Pakistan will head to Zimbabwe to play three ODIs and three T20Is from November 24 to December 5.
Pakistan Squad for Australia ODI Series: Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi
Pakistan Squad for Australia T20I Series: Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair Bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Usman Khan
Pakistan Squad for Zimbabwe ODI Series: Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Irfan Khan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shahnawaz Dahani, Tayyab Tahir
Pakistan Squad for Zimbabwe T20I Series: Ahmed Daniyal, Arafat Minhas, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Irfan Khan, Omair bin Yousuf, Qasim Akram, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir, Usman Khan