The fiercest debate in world cricket was once between who the best all-format batter in international cricket was, either Virat Kohli or Babar Azam. Things have certainly changed in the last couple of years, as Kohli has stepped away from the spotlight in two of the three international formats, and Babar has seen his spot in the Pakistan team in flux after up-and-down performances.
Nevertheless, given Kohli’s stature as a batter in India, there is no denying that Babar Azam represents a similar position as Pakistan’s leading batter of the past decade. How significant that role has been remains up for debate – but his contemporaries and teammates continue to see him in that vein.
Speaking on the Crickwick podcast, Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Azam Khan argued that Babar marked a change in Pakistan culture where the focus shifted from fast bowling and towards batters.
Also Read: Babar Azam achieves the unthinkable, surpasses Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to sit atop the men's T20I leaderboard
“Pakistan cricket was famous because of fast bowling. But this guy made it famous because of his batting. There is a huge difference. Like what Virat Kohli did for India,” argued Azam, who himself has lost his place in the Pakistan team after never being able to lock it down.
Babar's lack of mentorship hurting him
{{/usCountry}}“Pakistan cricket was famous because of fast bowling. But this guy made it famous because of his batting. There is a huge difference. Like what Virat Kohli did for India,” argued Azam, who himself has lost his place in the Pakistan team after never being able to lock it down.
Babar's lack of mentorship hurting him
{{/usCountry}}Despite a bright start to his career that saw him rubbing shoulders with the best players and batters in world cricket, Babar has faded away. He hasn’t scored a Test century since 2022, and no ODI centuries since August 2023. Subsequently, he lost his spot in Pakistan’s T20I team for the Asia Cup, and isn’t finding the smoothest run of form.
However, Azam Khan felt that this could be a result of the pressure on his shoulders, and the lack of a real mentor figure during his breakthrough years to help imbibe him with the right mindset for when he hit a rough patch. He compared him to Kohli, who broke through for India with the support of some of the greatest batters in the sport’s history.
“Virat Kohli had someone around him who was a legend at that time. In the era he started playing in, he had VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, and MS Dhoni. So many big batters. But who was there with Babar? There was no one,” concluded Azam.