Indian star batter Virat Kohli has been going through the worst phase of his cricketing career. He’s struggling to score runs across formats. His bad form has also seen him lose his top position in the ODI batter’s rankings with Pakistan captain Babar Azam overtaking him. The batter also finds himself out of the top 10 batters in Test and T20I formats as well.
With Kohli out of form, the debate around who’s the best player between him and Babar Azam has once again come to life and Babar is clearly leading the way at the moment. Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram has also expressed his thoughts on the Babar-Kohli debate before the upcoming India-Pakistan match in Asia Cup.
Pakistan legend Wasim Akram believes that the former India captain remains one of the all-time greats and comparing Babar Azam with him is still a bit premature.
“First of all let me start by saying that criticism from Indian fans against Kohli has been unnecessary. He is one of the greatest of all times, not just this era. He still fit as a fiddle. He is still one of the best fielders in the Indian squad,” said Akram in a press conference before the India-Pakistan clash.
“As they say class is forever and that is Virat Kohli. Hope he doesn’t come back to form against Pakistan but he will come back eventually,” he added.
On Babar being compared with Kohli, the former Pakistan captain said it is still a tad too early.
“The comparisons are only natural. When we played people used to compare Inzamam, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar. Before that it was Sunil Gavaskar, Javed Miandad, G Vishwanath and Zaheer Abbas,” the 56-year-old said.
“Babar has been very consistent, because he has got the right technique. He is very hungry and very fit. He is still a young captain but is learning very fast. However, comparisons with Virat it is too early.”
“Babar is on the right track to be where Virat Kohli is but to compare him with him at this stage is too early. But he is absolutely on the right track to be one of the modern greats,” he concluded.
