Dinesh Karthik feels Babar Azam can join Virat Kohli in 'Fab 5', become No 1 player in the world

The Royal Challengers Bangalore wicketkeeper and batter Dinesh Karthik feels that Pakistan captain Babar Azam can become the number 1 player in the world. Babar has played some great knocks for Pakistan off late vs Australia and has been praised by the likes of Ricky Ponting earlier. He is expected to finish as Pakistan's greatest batters. 

"One-hundred per cent (he is capable of achieving that). He is a high-quality player who is at the peak of his batting prowess and he has got some Test matches coming up. He has been phenomenal in all three formats of the game and he has done well in different batting positions too," Karthik said on The ICC Review.

"I wish him all the best and think he has the potential. He has got all the following of Pakistan helping him in abundance to go on and do special things for his country," he stated further.

Terrific game __
Q2 incoming _ pic.twitter.com/A0HAwsY0te — DK (@DineshKarthik) May 25, 2022

Karthik, who made another return to the Indian team a few days ago, said that Babar Azam has all the potential to be in the same elite list which includes the likes of Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Joe Root and Kane Williamson, who together are called 'Fab 4'. 

"It is a very strong ‘Fab Four' that we are talking about and they have obviously been there for much longer, but there is no doubt that Babar has all the credentials and he is going to make it a 'Fab Five'. There is no doubt he is there or thereabouts ... he is a very special player," said Karthik.

What makes Babar special is his balance while batting as well as his striking point.  

"The two things that struck me when I watched him bat is his balance and his striking point when he plays a ball. Whether it is on the front foot or the back foot, his ability to strike the ball more often than not under his eyes, has been phenomenal. He strikes the ball at the point where it is optimum power for where the ball is pitched and that makes him a very special player," he said.

DK, as he is popularly known as, said that Babar has brought changes in his technique to become a better version of himself. 

"When you play international cricket you have got to keep changing a little bit here and there to keep improving your technique. Sometimes just by one per cent a lot of the time so that so you can go on and achieve success in that particular tour you are on, so I think he has definitely tweaked his technique a bit here and there over a period of time," said Karthik.