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'Babar has almost overtaken Kohli as the ultimate 50-over batsman': WI great makes massive statement on Pakistan captain
The former West Indies cricketer spoke about Babar Azam, and also made a big claim over his comparisons with India great Virat Kohli.
Babar Azam has produced stunning performances for Pakistan over the past few months. The batter, who leads Pakistan in all three formats, slammed a brilliant century in the first ODI of the recently-concluded series against West Indies, making a record for slamming three successive ODI centuries twice in the format. Babar boasts of an incredible average of 59.22 in ODIs, with 17 centuries and 19 half-centuries to his name in merely 89 games.
His performances have often drawn Babar's comparisons with some of the leading batters in the game including India's former skipper Virat Kohli. West Indies's former cricketer Ian Bishop also spoke about Babar's brilliance, and believes that Babar, with his incredible form, has “almost overtaken” Kohli as the ultimate batter in ODIs.
“Babar Azam is on the road to greatness. I want to be clear when I say 'on the road to...', in the white-ball cricket at least, and certainly in fifty overs. I don't use the term ‘great’ loosely. It has to be a bigger sample size to bestow greatness on a player, but his average, as we speak now, (is) on the cusp on 60 with 17 ODI hundreds. He has almost overtaken his next door neighbour, the great Virat Kohli, in terms of the ultimate uber fifty-over batsman,” said Bishop during a conversation with cricwick.com.
The former West Indies bowler further insisted that Babar's batting in Test cricket is a “work in progress."
“His Test cricket is a work in progress. I'm surprised he hasn't taken to Test cricket numbers a lot earlier. He's starting to get better at it. Technically, he's superb. In future, I'm hoping he will be mentioned in the same breath in Test cricket as the top 3-4 players,” said Bishop.
Babar led Pakistan to a 3-0 series sweep against the West Indies in the ODI series, that concluded on June 12. The Pakistan team is scheduled to return to action on August 12 when the side takes on the Netherlands in a three-match ODI series.
