Babar Azam the most skilled batsman, Virat Kohli not even in top 4!! Former international on World's best

While Babar Azam has scored consistently across formats in international cricket in the last few years, there is little denying that he is still not considered the best in the world by the majority.

The right-handed batsman has been Pakistan's batting mainstay across formats. While things have not gone well for him in recent months, he has been scoring heavily in all three formats over the last few years.

Having made his debut in international cricket in 2015, Babar has played 52 Tests, 117 ODIs, and 123 T20Is for Pakistan so far.

In Tests, the Pakistan star has scored 3898 runs with the help of 9 centuries and 26 half-centuries. In ODIs, he has scored 5729 runs at an average of 56.72 including 19 centuries and 32 half-centuries.

His record in T20Is is equally impressive as he has scored 4145 runs with the help of 3 centuries and 36 half-centuries in the shortest format of the game.

Babar Azam is the most skilled batsman

While Babar Azam is one of the best batsmen in the world, not many would call him the best. The critics still believe that the Pakistan stalwart needs to do more to be considered better than some of the best batters of this generation such as Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, and Rohit Sharma.

However, former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Zahid has hailed Babar as the most skilled batsman in the world. Zahid said that the Pakistan skipper is ahead of all the batsmen in the world when it comes to technique.

At the same time, he also mentioned that the likes of Smith and Root are ahead of Babar in terms of performance and batting knowledge. He then went on to rank the batters, giving Smith the top rank followed by Root and Babar.

"If you ask me skill-wise, it is Babar Azam. Babar has the best technique among all batters. However, when we talk about performances and the knowledge of batting, Joe Root and Steve Smith are on another level," Zahid said on Basit Ali's YouTube channel.

"They don't have the kind of ability that Babar has, but they are more clever when it comes to game assessment. I would rank Steve Smith at one, Joe Root at second, and then Babar Azam," he added.

Babar was last seen in action during the T20 World Cup in June. He failed to make a big impact as a batsman or a captain as Pakistan bowed out of the competition at the group stage. Babar scored 122 runs in 4 matches at a dismal strike rate of just 101.66.