Babar Azam and Virat Kohli
Former Pakistan player-turned-commentator Ramiz Raja reckons that compatriot Babar Azam has the potential to surpass Indian skipper Virat Kohli's batting records, but if and only he can free his mind. Babar in fact is the only batsman now to be part of the top-5 of each of the ICC rankings. He is fifth in Tests, third in ODIs and the No.1 in T20Is.
“He has the potential to even beat Virat Kohli but he needs to free up [his mind] and not think about losing. As soon as he does that and thinks about scoring runs and winning, he will remain a great player for a very long time,” Ramiz was quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
“For Babar Azam, [the] sky is the limit. Until and unless he gets the environment which is encouraging and engaging, he won’t be able to live up to his potential,” Ramiz added.
However, Babar had recently shrugged off the discussion surrounding the comparison of him and Kohli but did mention that he would eventually want to achieve those feats for his country.
“Look he (Kohli) has already achieved a lot. He is a legend in his country. Honestly, there is no comparison with me right now but eventually, I also want to get where he is today,” Azam had said in the past.
“The media and people have drawn comparisons between me and Virat Kohli but I realize that I still need to get more runs in red-ball cricket to be ranked among the top players. That is why in recent months I have been focusing a lot on getting consistent scores in Test matches,” he added.
“I don’t feel any pressure if anyone compares me with Kohli or (Steve) Smith. I am now more focused on my batting and I spend hours watching videos of my innings. I catch my mistakes and then I try to ensure I don’t commit them again the next time,” he said.
