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Babar Azam versus Lokesh Rahul

I think Australia tour will probably be Rahul's last chance to establish himself in test cricket. If he fails in the test series, he will probably find it hard to get a place in test XI sooner as there are enough competition out there in Gill, Shaw and others.

But a couple of hundreds and he will cement his spot in the side even when Kohli will be back.
 
I don't like the idea of KL keeping and batting in the middle order in LO. India as a nation understand batting a lot better than me but KL Rahul is a top order player in LO and doesn't need the gloves as well.
 
Rahul is not a lower order batsman. It may have worked couple of times in NZ but he needs to bat in top 3. I would push Kohli at 4 and have Rahul bat at 1st down.
 
Rahul
Rohit
Virat
Iyer
Kishan(k)
Pandya
Jadeja
This should be Ind's top order. I think Ishan has got loads of talent as showed in the IPL against World's best
 
Hasan123 said:
I don't like the idea of KL keeping and batting in the middle order in LO. India as a nation understand batting a lot better than me but KL Rahul is a top order player in LO and doesn't need the gloves as well.
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Bhaag Viru Bhaag said:
Not in the same league. KL Rahul should be compared with someone like Jonny Bairstow. :inti
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Not wanting to downgrad Rahul, he may become as good as Johnny, but so far Bairstow is on the track to become a great of the ODI game.
His SR at the top order with a good average is barely paralleled in the world.

Rahul has the talent to push on, but don't see him becoming as explosive as Bairstow. Let's see.
 
Mobashir said:
Not wanting to downgrad Rahul, he may become as good as Johnny, but so far Bairstow is on the track to become a great of the ODI game.
His SR at the top order with a good average is barely paralleled in the world.

Rahul has the talent to push on, but don't see him becoming as explosive as Bairstow. Let's see.
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I think he should be opening in LO. He can take advantage of the PP and by the time spinners are bowling he will be set and he can accelerate against them.

Agarwal is a good player but I believe KL has much more potential as a LO player.
 
I love Rahul's batting. So much talent there but he still hasn't nailed it mentally. Pretty similar to Rohit before he started to open in 2013.
 
Hasan123 said:
I think he should be opening in LO. He can take advantage of the PP and by the time spinners are bowling he will be set and he can accelerate against them.

Agarwal is a good player but I believe KL has much more potential as a LO player.
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Already tried him as an opener and he takes some time like Rohit to settle.
 
[MENTION=9]Saj[/MENTION] can you please confirm

Did Babar Azam sign a deal with Gray Nichols as his kit/bat endorsement?

So he has switched from H/S?
 
Hasan123 said:
I think he should be opening in LO. He can take advantage of the PP and by the time spinners are bowling he will be set and he can accelerate against them.

Agarwal is a good player but I believe KL has much more potential as a LO player.
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He should always be number 4 or 5. No keeping though.
 
He is good as an opener but the problem is he will become a selfish stat booster like other Indian batsmen if he opens the batting. Preferably, he should bat at 4 and look to play as a finisher.
 
Big opportunity for KL today..Can he win a ODI match for his team in Australia..which Babar failed to do multiple times.:bhajji
 
So far going at under run a ball but he can still win india the match. He needs to replicate the acceleration in his ipl 100.
 
KL Rahul is extremely gifted with the shots he has in his arsenal, however Babar is currently the better batsman between the two due to his temperament and hard work.

So at the moment Babar > KL Rahul.
 
Top players can read the pace, can rotate the strike, can put the bad balls away without much risk and then if they have an impressive power game as well its cherry on the top.

Rahul at 28 years of age is really far away from that at this point of time. Impressive stroke play is only one aspect of batting.

Fine for banter and fun but, he is nowhere in the league currently where Babar belongs.
 
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Lokesh Rohail has superior hitting ability and that's about it really . . for all the squash-buckling-ness, he is 59 of 57! Hardly a good innings . . if this were Kohli or Rohit or a class player, they'd be close to 80 with the number of sixes/fours he has hit . . Babar suffers from his inability to go into 6th and 7th gear . . but he more than makes it up with his ability to rotate strike . he has been plaaying with a SR close to 100 . . mark of a class player!

For me, what defines a class player in ODIs is this:

How often can you make big runs without taking risks (risk free batting) at a SR of around 100?

The best LOI players I have seen are able to do this more than anyone else . . Kohli, Rohit, Hussey, Bevan, Ponting, ABD, etc. Before you know it, they're all batting at 40 of 43 balls and they haven't broken a sweat . . In my opinion Babar is now in that list . .

In short, I see absolutely no comparison with Babar at this stage. . lets see where he goes from here though
 
Slim said:
In all seriousness, this is the best comment in this thread that i have come across. Defines Babar and Rahul's career trajectory perfectly.
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Thank you.

Mobashir said:
That's a post that really doesn't mean anything.
It's like saying Hetmyer's good days are better than David's good days.
And what?
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Hetmyer's good days are not better than David warner's good days at all.

What i was saying is that Rahul is a player who can win a game from a position where Babar cannot win from. But Rahul fails more often than not and that's where Babar's consistency takes over. So much so that this thread has become a bit of a joke.
 
cricketjoshila said:
Kohli and Smith are a tier or two above Babar.
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I know you would love for everyone to believe this but nope, not really. The actual cricketing experts who you know have played cricket and get paid for their views consider Babar on at equal level to these two. Yes, hes not better than them, not yet, but hes up there.
 
I think Kl rahul has a better power game but lacks game awareness and solid temperament. Today he was obsessed with hitting sixes that he forgot to rotate the strike
Babar on the other hand has much better game awareness but very average power game. He needs someone on the other end to hit big for him and let him rotate the strike and get an odd boundary.
All in all, both are very different players with very different roles. Both need to work really hard to cover their weaknesses. And none of them are close to Kohli or Smith in any format.
 
All thesw JAMODIs are irrelevant. We all know KL will anyways have a very good LOI career.

This thread remains relevant only if KL Rahul does great in test series in Australia.
 
I recon Babar would have scored a 100 off 90 odd balls on this track but not 62 the way Smith has done 2 games in a row
 
CricketZ said:
Big opportunity for KL today..Can he win a ODI match for his team in Australia?..which Babar failed to do multiple times.:bhajji
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Hope you got the answer, twice. Funny thing is Rahul had the privilege to bat with Kohli. Who does Babar bat with?
 
Slim said:
I know you would love for everyone to believe this but nope, not really. The actual cricketing experts who you know have played cricket and get paid for their views consider Babar on at equal level to these two. Yes, hes not better than them, not yet, but hes up there.
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LOL, Smith averages 63 with 26 hundreds, and Kohli averages 54 with 27 hunderds in Tests.

How much does Babar average and how many hundreds does he have? Let me make it asy for you, he averages 45 with a grand total of 5 hundreds in Tests.
 
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Can't believe people still think Babar is of Smith and Kohli level. He may get there in the future but he most certainly is not at the moment. He has a grand total of 5 hundreds (all formats combined) against decent teams for god's sake. :facepalm:
 
Hitman said:
LOL, Smith averages 63 with 26 hundreds, and Kohli averages 54 with 27 hunderds in Tests.

How much does Babar average and how many hundreds does he have? Let me make it asy for you, he averages 45 with a grand total of 5 hundreds in Tests.
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yeah cuz stats is all it takes to determine everything. The moment people start comparing stats like "Since 2018" or "Both batsmen record at this point in their careers etc" you will be the one crying foul. So drop the **

And really convenient of you to pick and choose formats when they match your agendas
 
KoyoAli said:
yeah cuz stats is all it takes to determine everything. The moment people start comparing stats like "Since 2018" or "Both batsmen record at this point in their careers etc" you will be the one crying foul. So drop the **

And really convenient of you to pick and choose formats when they match your agendas
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Test cricket is the purest form of the game, and it's obvious when 2 players are compared, their Test numbers are going to be compared in the first place. Then comes ODI numbers, and then comes T20 numbers.

And yes, Babar's Test numbers are a bloody joke compared to Smith or Kohli. He has a long way to go to even get anywhere near. Where is mountain and where is mole. Smith has 26 hundreds, Kohli has 27 hundreds, while Babar has 5 hundreds. The only fans who'll place Babar in the same level as Kohli or Smith are the blind Pakistani fans. Even sane Pakistani fans won't compare them.
 
Babar Azam is a terrific batsman and one of the best in the world. He is couple of level above Lokesh Rahul. Its a fact and everyone knows it but I am quiet worried that some people need this point to be validated after every game. I understand that Pakistan has produced a world class batsman after decades, we all get that part but the way he gets hyped up is insane.

We can also say Babar has not scored a single 50 against India after playing 5 matches. His scores are 8, 46, 47, 9 and 48 with an avg of 31.

Rahul only played 1 game against Pakistan and scored 57.

Again, no way it means Rahul is a better player but I would wait for both to play more.
 
Babar Azam is as good as bumrah in batting. Which means he is one of the best in the world.
Bumrah and even Starc who are both class bowlers both had horrendous games on flat pancakes. They need ot learn how to bowl with the slower variations and take pace off the ball deceivingly.
It is sad to see the likes of average bowlers such as Maxwell, Henriques etc be so effective on flat wikcets with their slow pace.
 
Slim said:
I know you would love for everyone to believe this but nope, not really. The actual cricketing experts who you know have played cricket and get paid for their views consider Babar on at equal level to these two. Yes, hes not better than them, not yet, but hes up there.
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How many cricketing experts have put Babar on par with Kane and Root, let alone Smith and Kohli?

Babar doesn't even have half their runs, his avg in tests isnt 50 and he gets to play a lot of BD SL WI and Zim.
 
Hitman said:
Test cricket is the purest form of the game, and it's obvious when 2 players are compared, their Test numbers are going to be compared in the first place. Then comes ODI numbers, and then comes T20 numbers.

And yes, Babar's Test numbers are a bloody joke compared to Smith or Kohli. He has a long way to go to even get anywhere near. Where is mountain and where is mole. Smith has 26 hundreds, Kohli has 27 hundreds, while Babar has 5 hundreds. The only fans who'll place Babar in the same level as Kohli or Smith are the blind Pakistani fans. Even sane Pakistani fans won't compare them.
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Pakistani fans will also say PSL is better than IPL.
 
cricketjoshila said:
Pakistani fans will also say PSL is better than IPL.
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Yes for most of the Pakistani fans Babar Azam is already a better T20 player than kholi... In odi they still slightly reluctant to put Babar ahead of kohli due to Kohli’s mammoth numbers.. In test Babar is just one match inning knock away from surpassing Kohli...
 
I would rate babar as stylish as kohli but unfortunately he has lesser shots in his arsenal. As well as no 4th and 5th gear. This really limit him. I'm interested to see how he develops it. And last but not least at least few double centuries in tests.

Let's see if can at least get one double century in 2 tests in NZ
 
Indian_cricket_fan said:
I would rate babar as stylish as kohli but unfortunately he has lesser shots in his arsenal. As well as no 4th and 5th gear. This really limit him. I'm interested to see how he develops it. And last but not least at least few double centuries in tests.

Let's see if can at least get one double century in 2 tests in NZ
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:danish

That's a bit much, even for Babar, considering NZ pitches (for tests especially) are a minefield.
 
This thread is a joke. Rahul has surpassed Babar quite a long time ago and will continue on to greater heights. The 11th gear he has in his arsenal makes him a complete matchwinner.
 
Usman Chadda said:
This thread is a joke. Rahul has surpassed Babar quite a long time ago and will continue on to greater heights. The 11th gear he has in his arsenal makes him a complete matchwinner.
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In that case, I’ll wait for the day Rahul wins an important match.
 
Thunderbolt14 said:
In that case, I’ll wait for the day Rahul wins an important match.
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On second thought, winning matches is not an important metric for such a once in a generation talent. What matters more is the 11th gear Rahul has, which is exciting to watch. Babar doesn't even have a 1st gear in comparison.
 
Pacy with wisdom said:
I love Rahul's batting. So much talent there but he still hasn't nailed it mentally. Pretty similar to Rohit before he started to open in 2013.
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Technically he is as good as it gets. His issues are in the head. People say he has loose technique but that is not true at all.

I don’t like him in the middle-order. He would do wonders as an opener if builds his confidence but he is unlucky that he has Rohit and Dhawan ahead of him.

I think he will open after the next World Cup when Rohit (probably) and Dhawan (definitely) will no longer be in the team.
 
Mamoon said:
Technically he is as good as it gets. His issues are in the head. People say he has loose technique but that is not true at all.

I don’t like him in the middle-order. He would do wonders as an opener if builds his confidence but he is unlucky that he has Rohit and Dhawan ahead of him.

I think he will open after the next World Cup when Rohit (probably) and Dhawan (definitely) will no longer be in the team.
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So basically he is another Umar Akmal?
 
I have a lot of time for KL Rahul. He is an incredible batsman, but also incredibly lucky because he is in the shadows of Rohit, Dhawan and Kohli.

In any other team, he would have been a brilliant opener or a number 3, and without the fear of getting dropped after every game, he would do wonders.

Even in Test cricket, he is always looking over his shoulder and has never been allowed to settle. From Vijay to Dhawan to Shaw to Rohit to Agarwal, there is always someone getting his slot and he is not allowed any breathing space.

It is a bit unfortunate because the way he played on debut in Australia in 2014, the 199 against England in 2016 which was a masterclass and the technical brilliance that he showed against Australia at home in 2017 should have been enough to convince BCCI that he is their long-term opener.

This is the first time he has been giving a consistent run at a particular position, but his head is clouded because of the following three reasons: (1) it is not a natural batting position for him (2) he is not a natural WK and it is affecting his batting (3) he knows he is only holding the position until Pant sorts his game out.

In spite of that, the fact that he has been scoring runs in this position/role speaks volumes of his incredible ability.

At no point in his Test and ODI career did he get the message from the selectors, the management and the captain that we have full faith in you and you will not be dropped for a certain period no matter what.
 
Madplayer said:
So basically he is another Umar Akmal?
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Umar Akmal was technically lose as well. He had immense raw ability but it wasn’t harnessed at all because he is very dumb.

KL Rahul is a very intelligent guy and he works very hard on his game. He has been unlucky in terms of the players that are playing ahead of him and also because he hasn’t received the backing from the management that a player of his ability deserves.

His game will go up several notches and he will blow up if he received the same support and faith that Rohit did.
 
What a waste of an innings he played yesterday.

I thought he was better than this. In overs they needed 12/13 runs he would hit a boundary and score 3-4 per over. You can't be that bad at rotating the strike, it was really Misbah level yesterday. Tuk Tuk six Tuk Tuk single
 
KL Rahul is a very good limited player but you can't expect him that he will chase 240 off 26 overs when he came to bat. He played a very good knock and those dot balls followed by six shows that he is actually suitable for opening the batting.

He is too good to fail in any format. He has shown the consistency since the home series Vs Australia. I expect him to take his ODI average over 50 in a couple of years time.
 
Mamoon said:
Technically he is as good as it gets. His issues are in the head. People say he has loose technique but that is not true at all.

I don’t like him in the middle-order. He would do wonders as an opener if builds his confidence but he is unlucky that he has Rohit and Dhawan ahead of him.

I think he will open after the next World Cup when Rohit (probably) and Dhawan (definitely) will no longer be in the team.
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He struggles to rotate strike and isnt a natural at it, which underpins that he is being played out of position.
 
Mobashir said:
What a waste of an innings he played yesterday.

I thought he was better than this. In overs they needed 12/13 runs he would hit a boundary and score 3-4 per over. You can't be that bad at rotating the strike, it was really Misbah level yesterday. Tuk Tuk six Tuk Tuk single
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I rate babar above Rahul in tests. Infact Babar is top4 in tests. In odi he is top 5.
Do you believe Babar would have chased 390 in Australia under the lights? Say 246 runs actually cause India were 3 down for 130 ish.

We lost cause we bowled in batting friendly condtions. If anything our batsmen lacked one big power hitter in the middle order. That's what we lacked. They did still bat well.
 
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Mamoon said:
Technically he is as good as it gets. His issues are in the head. People say he has loose technique but that is not true at all.

I don’t like him in the middle-order. He would do wonders as an opener if builds his confidence but he is unlucky that he has Rohit and Dhawan ahead of him.

I think he will open after the next World Cup when Rohit (probably) and Dhawan (definitely) will no longer be in the team.
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Nope he is not an opener at all. Until he can play the moving ball he will never open.
On Pattas ? Sure.

Dreadful flat pancake Pattas like in Australia? Absolutely but he is fine at number 4.

In tests he should never be asked to open. Perfect for number 4 or 5. He just can't play vs new ball in any condition.
 
tyron_woodley said:
I rate babar above Rahul in tests. Infact Babar is top4 in tests. In odi he is top 5.
Do you believe Babar would have chased 390 in Australia under the lights? Say 246 runs actually cause India were 3 down for 130 ish.

We lost cause we bowled in batting friendly condtions. If anything our batsmen lacked one big power hitter in the middle order. That's what we lacked. They did still bat well.
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I can't see Babar or anyone whasing it down (maybe England in one out of 5 chances).
The problem is with scoring useless 70's, 90's. You have to play the situation. If RRR is over 10 and you are batting at run a ball at that time it's criminal even if you make 150 runs individually.

Rahul was strugling yesterday and I prefer someone being not able to do it. Kohli was just pushing it to covers for dot balls and singles.
 
tyron_woodley said:
Nope he is not an opener at all. Until he can play the moving ball he will never open.
On Pattas ? Sure.

Dreadful flat pancake Pattas like in Australia? Absolutely but he is fine at number 4.

In tests he should never be asked to open. Perfect for number 4 or 5. He just can't play vs new ball in any condition.
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He can play the moving ball. It is a myth that he is loose outside the off-stump. His technique is tighter than Rohit, Dhawan and Shaw.

Again, his issues are mental. If he builds confidence and gets the type of backing that Rohit received back in the day, he will not look back.
 
Mamoon said:
He can play the moving ball. It is a myth that he is loose outside the off-stump. His technique is tighter than Rohit, Dhawan and Shaw.

Again, his issues are mental. If he builds confidence and gets the type of backing that Rohit received back in the day, he will not look back.
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Well I am yet to see him play well vs the new moving ball. I don't think he has the skill to do it. His technique is perfect for number 4 in tests.

In odi on Pattas he can open I suppose but I prefer him to be number 4 everywhere.we need someone like him to smash tired bowlers in the middle overs.
 
Mobashir said:
I can't see Babar or anyone whasing it down (maybe England in one out of 5 chances).
The problem is with scoring useless 70's, 90's. You have to play the situation. If RRR is over 10 and you are batting at run a ball at that time it's criminal even if you make 150 runs individually.

Rahul was strugling yesterday and I prefer someone being not able to do it. Kohli was just pushing it to covers for dot balls and singles.
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Fair enough.
 
[MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] and [MENTION=150610]tyron_woodley[/MENTION] are seeing two different Rahuls (The original Rahul and the transformed one). If Rahul had continued to open in normal Tests &ODIs (without the demands & accelerations required in IPL) he would have settled by now as an all-format opener (without any issues). He had two major hurdles to cross (1) Dhawan & Rohit and also Kohli (No.3 spot which is somewhat similar or closer to Opening spot) (2) The extreme demands of IPL which completely transformed his style of play. He might have developed that crazy power game but he lost his strong defense! So we are seeing this (a middle order batsman and also should keep wickets to remain in the side!) I think KL Rahul's career is spoiled (blame goes to him and also the circumstances! I don't think management is responsible for this! Management cannot concentrate only on an individual's career, they just look at the team combinations) As most people think, KL Rahul would have excelled in any other side (even Australia & England perhaps!) Probably he could have been more effective than Finch, Bairstow, etc. Those teams have pretty good middle order batsmen, powerhitters & alrounders! So they would have happily embraced him as an opener! But in India's case - the top order is so good, but another important reason is we have poor middle-order (fit for nothings like Rayudu, Shankar, DK, etc, being asked to bat - these guys are not even 0.001% of counterparts from other teams!) Also no potent alrounders and depth in the batting. That's why we ask even openers like Rahul to bat in the middle-order to strengthen the batting!
 
MHN1293 said:
Im sure he and hardik would have already come close to such actions going by their comments on the talk show.
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It was only Hardik. Stop dragging Rahul into that just because he was there with him. He never made such comments.
 
Indian_cricket_fan said:
I would rate babar as stylish as kohli but unfortunately he has lesser shots in his arsenal. As well as no 4th and 5th gear. This really limit him. I'm interested to see how he develops it. And last but not least at least few double centuries in tests.

Let's see if can at least get one double century in 2 tests in NZ
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Babar strike rate has increaased in the last 2 years

Has kohli got a double century against new zealand in new zealand .not relisitic that hes going to get 1 double century
 
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