Ever since making his international debut in an ODI against Zimbabwe back in 2015, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has matured and evolved as a player and a captain, leading his team by example. Babar is currently the number one ranked batter in both ODIs and T20Is, while he occupies third place in Test rankings. To put things into context, Babar has amassed 3122 runs (42 Tests), 4442 runs (89 ODIs) and 2686 runs (74 T20Is) across the three international formats.
Babar, 27, has been often compared to experienced India batter and former skipper Virat Kohli, who is currently enduring a rough patch of form with the bat. Kohli has not scored an international century since November 2019, and all he could manage in the England limited-overs series in the UK was 45 runs from four matches (Two T20Is and two ODIs).
Former Pakistan cricketer Aqib Javed opened up on a comparison between Kohli and the likes of Babar Azam, Joe Root and Kane Williamson, mentioning that the latter were ‘technically sound’ players whose rough patches don’t tend to go on for long.
"There are two types of great players. One is players who, if they get stuck, their rough patch continues for a long time. The others are technically-sound players, whose rough patch cannot continue that long, like Babar Azam, Kane Williamson, Joe Root. It is difficult to find their weakness," Javed said in a YouTube video uploaded by PakTV.tv.
"Kohli gets stuck at times with the deliveries outside off stump. James Anderson has dismissed him a lot," the 50-year-old continued.
Javed feels should Kohli play two back-to-back long innings, that could help him in making a successful comeback.
"If he goes to change something, I was watching the match, he is consciously trying to not play away from his body. If you change your technique or flow, the problems will persist. If he plays long innings back-to-back, then he will make a comeback,” the former pacer added.
Javed, though, went on to elaborate on how situations could be similar between India and Pakistan.
"Let's take Kohli for an example, if he is not that confident, and India lose against Pakistan, they also face a similar situation like us. If he does not score runs, then questions will be asked on 'why did you play him?'" stated Javed.
"Then questions tend to arise that why didn't they play an in-form Deepak Hooda, suppose. But in UAE pitches, you are playing in the sub-continent so the chances are there that you might come back into form," the World Cup-winning cricketer added.
India, led by Rohit Sharma, will lock horns against arch-rivals Pakistan in the 2022 Asia Cup on 28 August, before facing off again during the T20 World Cup in Australia on 23 October. The last time the two teams faced off in the T20 World Cup last year, Pakistan had hammered India by 10 wickets, with Mohammad Rizwan (79*) and Babar Azam (68*) forging an unbeaten 152-run stand to take Pakistan home.
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