Adil Rashid: “I think Babar’s cover drive, but otherwise, Kohli’s straight drive and his whip are something else”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
England spinner Adil Rashid thinks Pakistan batsman Babar Azam has a better cover drive than India superstar Virat Kohli.
Many cricketers have provided their opinions on which batsmen has the best cover, with Azam and Kohli regularly featuring at the top of the list.
Despite putting Azam at number one, Rashid praised Kohli’s straight drive and whip shots.
“I think Babar’s cover drive, but otherwise, Kohli’s straight drive and his whip are something else,” he said on the Beard Before Wicket podcast as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam was recently in action in the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he captained the Peshawar Zalmi and accumulated 288 runs in 10 games, which included three fifties, at an average of 36 and a strike-rate of 128.57.
Despite doing well in PSL 10, he was overlooked by the selectors for Pakistan’s T20I series against Bangladesh in Lahore, the T20I tour of Bangladesh and the three-match T20I series against the West Indies.
Having missed Pakistan’s last few T20I assignments, Azam ultimately returned for the three-match ODI series against the West Indies and scored 56 runs at an average of 18.66.
Pakistan are now involved in a T20I tri-series against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Afghanistan in Sharjah, which will conclude on September 7.
After that, they will feature in the 2025 Asia Cup, which will be played in the UAE from September 9 to 28.
Azam was not included in the squad Pakistan named for the T20I tri-series and Asia Cup.
Pakistan squad for UAE T20I tri-series and 2025 Asia Cup: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem