Pujara is a much better Test player than Babar and Rohit is better than any batsman Pakistan has ever produced. Babar is nowhere near him.
In 5 years time, a 31 year old Babar might be better than a 37 year old, almost retired Kohli, but he will never reach the heights Kohli has reached in his career.
Kohli is among the top 5 greatest batsmen in history, Babar or any Pakistani batsman for that matter is nowhere near that league.
KL Rahul is a top player and if he was Pakistan he would be a superstar and the captain in all formats.
The problem for him in ODIs is that he hasn’t had a good run in the top because of Rohit, Dhawan and Kohli, which is the greatest top 3 in ODI cricket history.
Kohli = the greatest ODI batsman ever
Rohit = arguably the greatest ODI opener ever
Dhawan = one of the finest ODI openers from Asia
KL Rahul is simply unlucky to be competing with titans like them. If he was Pakistani, he would be the first-choice opener in all formats for 6-7 years and would have scored thousands of runs by now.
Similarly, if Babar was in India, he would be a nobody because he wouldn’t get to bat in the top 3 in LOIs because he cannot compete with Rohit, Dhawan and Kohli. He would only be a backup player.
In Test cricket, KL Rahul cannot cement his place in the playing XI in spite of hundreds on his first tours of Australia and England and a 199 against England at home, simply because the competition is intense and cut-throat.
His competition includes Rohit, Gill, Shaw, Agarwal and Dhawan who is not even in the picture at the moment in spite of averaging 40.
All these openers will walk into the Pakistan team with their eyes closed. Imagine KL Rahul competing for a spot with Imran Butt, Abid, Imam and Fakhar.
As I have said many times, the gap between Pakistan and India is far too big for such direct comparisons to be established.
India is miles above Pakistan and their batting standards and expectations are in a different stratosphere. It is much, much harder for a batsman to get into the Indian team and also to keep his place than it is for a Pakistani batsman.
The problem is that our fans are delusional and they have no vision. They only look at direct stats and do not take others factors into consideration.
Imagine comparing Abdullah Shafique and Haider Ali with KL Rahul.
Sums up how deluded our fans are and how out of touch with reality they really are.
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Dont be so hard on Rahul. He is already one of the best batsmen India has produced in a decade, just based on potential. Give him ten more years, he will eventually fulfill that potential.
Also Pujara better batsman just because he dead bats most of the time, even when his team is surrounded by quality team. A batsman like Babar who goes for his shot may get out quicker but will move along the test better. Pujara is at Azhar Ali level.
Also Pujara better batsman just because he dead bats most of the time, even when his team is surrounded by quality team. A batsman like Babar who goes for his shot may get out quicker but will move along the test better. Pujara is at Azhar Ali level.
Rahul is Asad Shafiq of limited over cricket, looks good sometimes but often goes missing.
Yes Babar was better in one world cup.
Mashallah my greatest ever achievement in PP is creating a thread that has 47 pages and running
Cashed in on the Indo-Pak rivalry when I found two young players
Babar has definitely changed his game in the past 1.5 years.
hopefully at the end of it we will have a consensus on who is better!Wow.. almost 50 pages on this thread! I have a feeling this one will hit a century
Both of them getting out was a blessing for India, but it happened too late.
Actually every Babar innings is like this only.
Babar is a limited odi batsman, he won't find a settled place in our odi XI, Rahul strikes at 90 and still we don't find him aggressive enough, just wonder how Babar will survive
