Babar Azam Downplays Virat Kohli And Steve Smith Comparisons
Babar Azam played a fine knock in the 2nd Test. Credit: Getty Images

Babar Azam is hitting the headlines for all the right reasons these days. He has transformed into a complete player for his team and is one of the very few players in the modern era to pile up runs on a consistent basis. Today, he is being compared with the superior likes of Virat Kohli and Steve Smith. The talismanic batsman who announced his arrival at the international stage lived up to his reputation of being Pakistan’s run-machine.

He hit the peak performance in T20Is and ODIs by maintaining an average in excess of 50. It is cognisance of the fact that Pakistan T20I captain unleashed his true colours when it mattered the most. He scored 2 fifties in the three-match T20I series against Australia. He might not have got more runs in Tests but he is slowly picking up the pace. His recent performance in Australia serves as a testament to the fact.

Babar Azam
Babar Azam. Credit: AFP

Babar Azam is a complete player now

The nightmare followed Babar Azam around like a shadow in Australia three years ago. However, he ensured to sort out all the woes and evolved as a different batsman altogether. In the two Tests in Australia, he managed to garner as many as 210 runs while the rest of the batsmen were dismissed for cheap scores. He scored a candid century at the Gabba and missed out on scoring one more ton at the Adelaide Oval by just three runs.

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After Babar Azam showcased his mettle in the overseas conditions, the comparisons with the likes of Smith and Kohli surfaced on social media. However, the right-handed batsman downplayed the comparisons just like before. Babar also made it clear that the comparisons don’t really matter to him since he has not played as much cricket as others.

Steven Smith, Justin Langer, Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli with Steven Smith (Credits – Getty)

“I don’t think the comparison is valid at this stage. I haven’t played much, while the other players have played quite a lot. I have only played 23 Tests and (74) ODIs. When I started cricket, my goal was to compete with the best. I wanted to do well for my country and to be among the top five batsmen in the world. My mindset was to complete with the 4-5 best batsmen in the world. You can produce good performances, but to maintain consistency you need a lot of hard work,” Babar told cricket.com.au.

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