Babar Azam and Virat Kohli
Former Pakistan cricketer and a legendary spinner, Saqlain Mushtaq, on Monday joined the bandwagon of veteran cricketers to opine on the freshly-brewing debate of who is the better batsman between Virat Kohli and Babar Azam.
Kohli has been dominating world cricket for over a decade now, breaking and scripting new records while steadily approaching Sachin Tendulkar's all-time batting numbers. On the other hand, Babar, who has recently been appointed as Pakistan's new ODI captain, has shown a steady rise since his debate leading fans and veterans to compare the youngster with the veteran.
When asked to compare the two batsmen, Saqlain, speaking to Cricket Pakistan, mentioned the characteristics that made them "great players".
"Both are great players, with a great technique, and are mentally very strong. They have the hunger and passion to score lots of runs," Saqlain said.
He then gave Babar an edge over Kohli owing to the youngster's humble nature as against the latter's aggressive on-field attitude. Saqlain based his opinion on sports science.
"Kohli is more aggressive while Babar is humble. Babar's calmness gives him edge over Virat Kohli if we look at what sports science teaches us," said Mushtaq, who was been appointed as Pakistan's Head of International Player Development.
In a recent interview in Cricbuzz, Babar hailed Kohli as one of best players of world cricket before adding that he would would look to emulate the Indian skipper and win matches for Pakistan.
"To me, Virat Kohli is one of the best players. I am far behind. I have a lot to achieve yet. I will try to become a player like him and win matches for Pakistan and create records," Babar told Cricbuzz in a chat with Harsha Bhogle.
Babar is presently the only batsman in the world to be in the top-5 of all ICC rankings, while Kohli is in the top 10 across formats.
Saqlain concluded by admitting that Kohli has been performing consistently for many years while Babar still has a long road to travel and hence comparing the two is "unfair".
"But comparing Babar with Kohli is unfair because the latter has been performing for a very long time, all over the world," he said.
