‘It is not advisable to compare Babar Azam with Virat Kohli’, reckons Aakash Chopra
Babar Azam, Virat Kohli (Image Source: Twitter)

Ever since Babar Azam shot to prominence on the international stage, he has drawn incessant comparison with some of the finest batsmen across the globe. For Pakistan, a nation overabundant with quality fast-bowlers but pretty scarce of batting talents, Babar Azam has been both an anomaly and a rarity.

His technical proficiency and staggering consistency across all formats have drawn an interesting comparison to Indian batting maestro Virat Kohli. In 2018, Azam outpaced Kohli to become the fastest batsman to reach 1000 T20I runs.

Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has put forth his opinion and said it’s too early to compare Azam to the Indian skipper whose name is already mentioned in the same breath as all-time greats to grace the game.

In a YouTube conversation with former Pakistani pacer Tanvir Ahmed, Chopra remarked, “Babar is an exciting talent. There is no doubt about that. It is also true that Virat Kohli is very far away in this race. He is older and started cricket before Babar. Virat’s name is already included in the conversation of all-time greats.”

“Babar has the necessary skills to reach that point, but the real question is whether he will be able to reach those heights which depends on many things such as discipline, injuries, form and many other things which will come along as time goes on.”

The cricketer-turned commentator stated that talent alone doesn’t give an assured guarantee of greatness.

“Talent can only take you to a place but you have to have that incredible passion that drives you forward. Virat did not have that from the start but fostered it along the way,” remarked Chopra.

Chopra was full of praise for Kohli’s dedication and said it comes from “incredible passion”.

“I can’t say that Babar is batting better than Virat was during this stage of his career but both are exceptional talents. Now the difference in Virat is his extreme focus. He is disciplined and focused on his training and diet. This level of discipline comes from that incredible passion,” Chopra reasoned.

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