Virat Kohli vs Babar Azam: Pakistan captain has overtaken Indian batter, feels THIS cricket legend

Former West Indian pacer Ian Bishop was full of praise for Pakistan captain Babar Azam after the three-match ODI series against the Caribbean side came to an end. The cricketer-turned commentator believes that Babar has almost taken over former India captain Virat Kohli, at least, in the 50-over format. Babar is the No. 1 ranked batter in the ICC ODI ranking with fellow Pakistan opener Imam-ul-Haq taking 2nd spot with Kohli slipping to third.

“Babar Azam is on the road to greatness. I want to be clear when I say ‘on the road to…’, in the white-ball cricket at least, and certainly in fifty overs. I don’t use the term ‘great’ loosely. It has to be a bigger sample size to bestow greatness on a player, but his average, as we speak now, (is) on the cusp on 60 with 17 ODI hundreds. He has almost overtaken his next door neighbour, the great Virat Kohli, in terms of the ultimate uber fifty-over batsman,” Bishop told to Cricwick website.

“His Test cricket is a work in progress. I’m surprised he hasn’t taken to Test cricket numbers a lot earlier. He’s starting to get better at it. Technically, he’s superb. In future, I’m hoping he will be mentioned in the same breath in Test cricket as the top 3-4 players,”  he further added.

Hard work pays off pic.twitter.com/HwyvSXl672 — Babar Azam (@babarazam258) June 15, 2022

Babar is in excellent form for Pakistan as he has led his nation to a 3-0 whitewash over the Windies in the ODI series. He already has the unique record of slamming 3 successive ODI centuries that too twice in the format. The 27-year old Babar boasts of an ODI average of 59.22 and has a total of 17 centuries to his name so far. On the other hand Kohli’s last international century came in 2019.

The former West Indies bowler further insisted that Babar’s batting in Test cricket is a ‘work in progress’. “His Test cricket is a work in progress. I'm surprised he hasn't taken to Test cricket numbers a lot earlier. He's starting to get better at it. Technically, he's superb. In future, I'm hoping he will be mentioned in the same breath in Test cricket as the top 3-4 players,” said Bishop.

The Pakistan team is scheduled to return to action on August 12 when the side takes on the Netherlands in a three-match ODI series.