In recent discussions, comparisons between Indian batting maestro Virat Kohli and Pakistan’s former captain Babar Azam triggered debates among fans and experts. This comes after Pakistan’s crushing defeat against England at home as they surrendered at the visitors by an innings and 47 runs at Multan.
Following the shameful defeat, the new PCB selection committee dropped Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Sarfaraz Ahmed from the squad for the remaining two Tests.
Babar Azam’s omission due to his prolonged poor form, as he hasn’t scored a Test half-century since December 2022. Making it nearly two years since Babar managed to go past that mark. That was also the last time Babar scored a Test century as he made 161 in the first innings of the first Test against New Zealand in Karachi. Since then he has now gone 18 Test innings without reaching fifty.
Last month, Babar has quit as Pakistan captain for the second time in less than a year, citing a desire to lessen his workload and focus on his batting, but his decision didn’t change his fortune.
Last month, on Babar’s performance former skipper Zaheer Abbas calling for his removal from the squad due to a prolonged dip in form. “If he’s our main batsman and he’s out of form, he should be out of the team,” Zaheer said at an event in the UAE.
The downturn in Babar’s form has sparked wider discussions, especially after Pakistan’s disappointingly early exit from the 2024 T20 World Cup. Consecutive defeats to the USA and arch-rivals India led to Pakistan’s group-stage elimination.
Babar has struggled to maintain his form, particularly in Test cricket. His performance in the home Test series against Bangladesh was particularly disappointing, wherein he managed only 64 runs (0, 22, 11, and 31) across four innings.
It’s Babar’s extraordinary dip in Test cricket. He has managed to cross 40 just once in the Test matches, he has played since then. That came in the second innings of the second Test against Australia in Melbourne, December last year, when he scored 41 in Pakistan’s 79-run defeat. His other scores in this period read 14, 24, 27, 13, 24, 39, 21, 14, 1, 26, 23, 0, 22, 31, 11 and 30.
Adding to the pressure, Babar fell from the ICC top 10 rankings for batters for the first time in years.
Babar used to average above 50 in Tests before the start of this dry phase. He scored 1184 runs in nine Tests with four centuries and seven fifties in a bumper 2022 at an average of 69.64. But this has been followed by 204 runs in five Tests at 22.66 in 2023 and 143 runs in four Tests at 20.42 thus far in 2024.
In Test cricket, Virat Kohli has played many more matches than Babar Azam and scored a lot more runs. Kohli has made 8848 runs in 113 Tests, while Babar has scored 3898 runs in 52 Test matches. Even though their batting averages are quite close, Virat has hit 20 more centuries than Babar.
Fans always compared Babar Azam with Indian great Virat Kohli. In Test cricket, Kohli is far ahead of Babar in terms of the matches played and runs scored. He has scored 8947 runs in 115 Tests, compared to Babar’s 3997 runs in 55 Test matches.
Virat has a better batting average 48.89 compare to Babar’s 43.92. Virat scored 29 more centuries and 30 fifties while on the hand, Babar managed only 9 centuries and 26 half-centuries.
Babar Azam has made only 1 century of them has come outside the subcontinent while Kohli has scored 13 hundreds outside the subcontinent of India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.
Compared Babar Azam’s current struggles to Kohli’s rough patch between 2020 and 2023, Kohli still remained a key part of the Indian squad. He pitched in with handy knocks, helped the team with leadership experience and tried his maximum best on the field.
When all the players fail than big players should stood tall which Virat Kohli does more often than not that’s why everyone called him king but with, he never seen him stand tall when his team was down and out never ever in format of the game.
On the contrary, Babar Azam didn’t show such a kind of resilience in Tests. Unlike Kohli, who had already carved out his reputation for himself with multiple ICC trophies and remarkable achievements before enduring a rough patch, Babar Azam still needs to prove himself in Tests.
When Virat Kohli was 22 years old, he became a World Cup winner (2011). At 24, he added the ICC Champions Trophy (2013) to his resume before leading the Indian Test side. His rise to greatness was not just limited to limited-overs, he made a telling impact in Tests with match-winning performances.
When he was 26, he had scored four centuries in Australia. On the other side of the coin, Babar Azam has not achieved similar kinds of milestones at comparable stages of his cricketing venture career.
It’s time for Babar Azam’s fans to get a reality check that talent alone is not enough to cement a legacy in international cricket. Babar lacked the early triumphs and high-pressure performances that Kohli has constantly delivered.
The former Indian skipper is the best all-format player without the shadow of a doubt. He scored seven double centuries in Tests, six of them coming within 16 months, which is quite an incredible feat.
Notably, he is the only batter who went past Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of 49 ODI centuries. Kohli hit 50 centuries in ODIs, 29 centuries in Tests and a solitary century in T20Is.
Although Babar showed promise in ODIs and T20Is, he has yet to extend his dominance in Tests. He has been in woeful form in red-ball cricket for quite a long time now.
