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Cricket PlayersKohli reveals his conversation with Babar before Asia Cup tie, hails PAK skipper as 'one of top batters in the world'
Ahead of the big match in Dubai, Kohli revealed his small conversation with the Pakistan star and was full of praise for him, hailing Babar as "one of the top batters in the world across formats".
The camaraderie between former India captain Virat Kohli and Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has been the talk of world cricket ever since the latter had shown his support towards the India batter amid his ongoing struggle with the bat. And this came at a time when Babar has constantly been compared to Kohli in terms of batting. Babar's action was hailed by legends and experts and Kohli too had replied to the tweet a day later. The two once again took centre stage on social media ahead of the blockbuster India versus Pakistan tie in the Asia Cup when Kohli and Babar met during their practice sessions. And ahead of the big match in Dubai, Kohli revealed his small conversation with the Pakistan star and was full of praise for him, hailing Babar as "one of the top batters in the world across formats".
Speaking to Star Sports ahead of the India-Pakistan game, Kohli talked about his relation with Babar, beginning from his first meeting with the 27-year-old at the 2019 World Cup and praised the Pakistan captain for staying grounded despite the success he has tasted in world cricket.
“The first interaction I had with him was in 2019 World Cup after the game in Manchester. Him and Imad. I knew Imad from U-19 days because him I've played against. Imad said Babar wanted to have a chat and so we sat down and spoke about the game. I saw a lot of regard and respect from him from Day 1 and it hasn't changed regardless of the fact that he is now one of the top batsmen in the world right now across formats and has been performing so consistently. And rightly so,” Kohli said.
Babar is presently the only batter to feature in the top three of every ICC Rankings, He holds the top spot in both the white-ball formats and is ranked third in Test cricket.
Further hailing Babar, Kohli admitted that he will go a long way in his career and that such players “keep world cricket exciting”.
“He has amazing talent and I've enjoyed watching him play. It hasn't changed because he is performing well and I don't see his attitude and approach changing towards me which is a very good sign of someone who is very grounded to his foundation of his upbringing. These kind of players and characters go a long way and inspire a lot of people. I congratulated him yesterday for how he has been playing and he deserves all of this. Eventually you need to have players like him to keep world cricket exciting and that is the reality of the situation,” he added.
