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'Virat can improve his technique by looking at Babar': Aaqib Javed compares Pakistan captain to Kohli, Tendulkar
Former Pakistan fast bowler Aaqib Javed has compared Babar Azam to Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar.
The debate surrounding Virat Kohli and Babar Azam is a never-ending one. Respective captains of their teams, India's Kohli and Pakistan's Azam are among the top batsmen in the world along with Steve Smith, Kane Williamson and Joe Root. Although Kohli is far more experienced than Babar, the Pakistan captain is quickly matching the standard of batting at which Kohli operates.
Kohli trumps Babar in several departments, including the number of runs, centuries, captaincy record etc. However, the one thing that seems to be going the Pakistan captain's way and not his Indian counterpart is scoring centuries. While it's been a year and nearly five months that Kohli has not scored an international century, Babar recently registered an ODI ton against South Africa, surpassing Kohli and South Africa great Hashim Amla as the quickest to notch up 13 centuries on the format.
Former Pakistan fast bowler Aaqib Javed feels Kohli is slightly lacking in terms of technique, an areas where he feels Babar has the edge over the Indian captain. In fact, Javed drew parallels between Babar and the great Sachin Tendulkar, explaining how similar to the former India batsman, the Pakistan captain has no weakness in his batting.
"Virat Kohli has a better range [of shots] as compared to Babar Azam but he also has one area of weakness. If the ball swings, he tends to get trapped around the off-stump such as against [James] Anderson in England,” Javed told Cricket Pakistan in an interview.
"When you look at Babar, you don’t see any weak areas. Just like, [Sachin] Tendulkar who also didn’t have any weak areas. Babar is technically more safe and sound but if he follows Kohli’s fitness routine he will become an even better player. Meanwhile, Kohli can improve his technique by looking at Babar so that he doesn’t get trapped."
After the golden era of Pakistan batting – the likes of Mohammad Yusuf, Younis Khan, Inzamam Ul-Haq and others, Babar's batting has put him in the same league as these greats of Pakistan cricket. Lauding the emergence of Babar the batsman, Javed feels if he can keep scoring runs at the same pace and frequency, he can surpass Kohli in terms of runs and other records.
"During the past two or three years, Babar Azam is 50 per cent of Pakistan’s batting. I never thought that he would be this consistent and even go past Virat Kohli [in ODI rankings]. Pakistan is very lucky; he came when the team was struggling and has single-handedly put the team on the right track. Even, captaincy hasn’t affected his form," Javed explained.
