New Delhi: Former India captain Virat Kohli revealed his first interaction with Babar Azam and hailed the Pakistan captain as one of the best batters in the world across formats. Both Kohli and Babar are hailed as modern-day greats and have been the pillar of the respective sides.
While it is true that Babar still needs a long way to reach what Kohli has acquired so far in his career at the international level, it is the Pakistan batter’s consistency that impressed the Indian the most.
“The first interaction I had with him (Babar) was during the 2019 [ODI] World Cup after the game in Manchester,” Kohli recalled in the interview with Star Sports. “I’ve known Imad [Wasim] since the Under-19 World Cup, and he said Babar wanted to have a chat.
“We sat down and spoke about the game. I saw a lot of regard and respect from him from day one, and that hasn’t changed,” Kohli said. “Regardless of the fact he’s probably the top batsman in the world across formats, and rightly so.
“Performs so consistently and I’ve always enjoyed watching him play,” Kohli added. However, going by the present form, Babar is currently sitting at the top of the ICC ODI batting rankings with 886 ratings. Kohli, on the other hand, is ninth with 705 rating points.
The Pakistan batter is also in the top five of the ICC Batting rankings in T20Is and Tests. In fact, Babar is the only player to rank in the top five across all formats in the rankings table. As far as their games are concerned, Babar is currently playing in the ongoing Lanka Premier League for Colombo Strikers and even scored a hundred.
Babar thus became the first Asian player and second overall to score 10 T20 hundreds behind West Indies great Chris Gayle (22). On the other hand, Kohli scored a hundred against West Indies in Tests last month.
In the ODI series, he didn’t bat in the first match while was rested in the next two. Kohli wasn’t named in the ongoing T20I series against West Indies and is also not a part of the Ireland series as well that starts on August 18.
Kohli’s future assignments are the Asia Cup, ODI series against Australia and the ICC World Cup at home. Meanwhile, Kohli and Babar will face each other on September 2 in an Asia Cup game in Kandy.
They might also compete in the Super 4 stage based on how they go in the first round. Additionally, the fierce rivalry will also resume in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup on October 14 in Ahmedabad.
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