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With Asia Cup 2023 just four days away, the floor is once again open to the discussion on who is the better player between Virat Kohli and Babar Azam. The Pakistan captain’s stellar rise across format and ability to break records at will since the start of his career sparked the comparison with Kohli, who has dominated all forms of the sport.
With the continental event coming up, starting August 30 with Pakistan up against qualifier Nepal, cricket experts reignited the debate.
During a conversation on Star Sports show ‘Game Plan’, former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar and ex-Aussie player Tom Moody drew similarities between the two modern-era greats, based on their qualities in the 50-over format.
Manjrekar reckoned that anytime a player performs impressively on a consistent basis, the comparisons are immediately drawn with a great one, adding that the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Kohli have dealt with the same throughout their illustrious career. He feels that while it is “unfair”, the comparison does not put an additional pressure on their game.
He said: “Absolutely, and we can expect that to happen again. Just one thing that you know people like Tendulkar and Virat Kohli have had to deal with that they’ve had long careers and they sort of have spanned over 10 15 years and anytime there’s been a rising star, he’s been compared to a guy who’s been in the race for a long time. So sometimes it can be a little unfair but the greatness of these two guys is that they maintain that standard that the best performance of a rising player is equated with it.”
Manjrekar further added, “Yes, both very good players. One obviously in his prime younger but coming to these kind of platform we want to say Virat Kohli and see with the format that we have here not the T20 format, Asia Cup this time round you might just see a bit Babar Azam and maybe show his place as well.”
‘Babar Azam reminds of Virat Kohli’
The comparison between the two hasn’t bee a recent discussion. It has been among ardent cricket fans of the two Asian countries for long, but it has had no effect on bond that the two players share. Leading up to the Asia Cup last year, Babar had shared a heartwarming post on X to show support towards Kohli, who was going through a rough patch. The two were later seen sharing a laughter on the sidelines of India and Pakistan’s practice in the UAE.
Speaking about the two star batters, Moody reckoned that he sees a lot of Kohli in Babar in terms of approach towards the game and technique as well. The Aussie however did not wish to predict who would emerge on top at the Asia Cup, explaining that the competition will keep them on their toes throughout the tournament.
He said: “I think absolutely he is. He does remind me very much of Virat Kohli, the way he goes about his business. He plays authentic cricket shots. He seems to understand, read the game very well, which Kohli has done for over a decade. He is a good chaser as well like Virat Kohli has proven to be over many many years. So, there’s so much likeness between the two and I wouldn’t go as far as saying that Virat is gonna have a better Asia Cup than Babar Azam, but they both can have equal pressure on them and it’s gonna be a delight to watch them both bat because they are box office.”
