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Cricket Players'I love Virat Kohli': PSL youngster after blasting 31-ball 62; 'But I saw Babar Azam's batting today and...'
A 21-year-old Afghanistan batter, who lit up the PSL with an innings of 62 off 31 balls, said he loves Virat Kohli's batting, while mentioning that he took tips from Babar Azam before his blazing knock.
Virat Kohli and Babar Azam are two megastars of world cricket. One is an established superstar and the other is on his way of becoming one. There have been never-ending comparisons between the two and debates as to which one is better, but while the answer to that question remains unanswered, one thing is certain – both are bonafide champions. In Kohli, Indian cricket found the one quintessential batting star after Sachin Tendulkar, while Babar is by some distance, the greatest batter produced by Pakistan in a long time and are admired by millions across India and Pakistan. Kohli's craze in Pakistan is beyond imagination, evident during last year's Asia Cup when fans lined up to click selfies with the former India captain. Whereas fans in India too have shown their appreciation for Babar.
On Thursday during the Pakistan Super League match between Islamabad United and Peshawar Zalmi, Afghanistan youngster Rahmanullah Gurbaz stole the show with a spanking innings of 62 off 31 balls. Having idolised AB de Villiers while growing up and currently an avid follower of Kohli, Islamabad United's Gurbaz's batting had a bit of both in his batting which lit up Karachi's National Stadium.
"From when I was a kid, I liked to watch him bat. His energy throughout the match. His aggressive hitting. Currently, I love Virat Kohli's batting," Gurbaz said during the post-match press conference.
So impressive was Gurbaz's outing that his knock overshadowed Babar's half-century. However, as it turns out, watching Babar bat in the first innings went a long way in Gurbaz playing the way he did. The 21-year-old Gurbaz revealed that he had taken tips from the Pakistan captain and studied his innings, which then gave him the confidence in playing a blazing knock himself.
"Today, the one thing that I changed in my batting was that I also focused on some strike rotation as well before I was just trying to hit too hard and you know take some advantage from the circle but today my focus was also in some cricket good cricket shots not only power so yeah, as I mentioned that we are we had chat about it before the match me and Babar. I just applied that it helped me a lot. Earlier, I was trying to hit every ball but today I saw Babar Azam's batting as well when he was in. And I was just focused on that how he hits the boundaries," he added.
