One good innings doesn't make Rahul better than Babar and one failure doesn't mean Rahul is a talentless hack.
However, what is difficult to understand for some people is the fact that had Babar been in Rahul's shoes, he would have made the Indian No.4 spot his own by now.
On the other hand, had Rahul been in Babar's shoes, he would not have been able to carry Pakistan's mediocre batting line up on his shoulders, something Babar is doing since his debut at the age of 21.
Babar has the misfortune to play in a team where he is on a different planet altogether when it comes to batting ability. Rahul plays in a team where 3 batsmen are vastly superior to him, where his early dismissial doesn't trigger any batting collapse, where all he needs to do is play his natural game without worrying about anything else.
No one can consistently win cricket matches on his own all the time. Tendulkar himself had to carry the burden of a rubbish team in the 90s, where he would play a masterclass, only to watch his teammates bottle it straight after his wicket. I am not comparing Babar with Sachin, but their situations and responsibilities are very similar, when it comes to carrying an entire batting line up on their shoulders.
Moreover, Babar is fulfilling this responsibility since his early 20s, and is still managing not only to score consistently, he has been improving leaps and bounds since the past few years, and we can see it from improvements regarding his strike rotation, as he used to play a lot of dot balls early in his innings back in 2017 when he used to reach his 50 in 75-80 balls.
His match winning abilities are now being questionned, but the fact remains : he can't win us a match where he scores a 100 at a strike rate of 95, while the rest barely manage to get 150-170 runs combined.
Yes, Rahul is ahead when it comes to power hitting abilities. However, another fact we need to understand is that a 100 from Rahul will be more often than not, complemented by good or great contributions from their legendary top order which includes the GOAT himself, and notable contributions coming from world class players such as Pandya in the death overs.
Today's Indian bowling attack is also vastly superior to the Pakistani bowling unit. On a rare occasion where Rohit, Dhawan and Kohli fail at the same time like the CT Final, and Rahul manages to get a 100 to give India a total of 275, the likes of Bumrah, Bhuvi, Shami, Kuldeep and Chahal will smell a chance to choke and eventually bowl the opposition out, which will mean that Rahul's 100 will automatically become a match winning 100, thanks to bowlers' heroics, as targets lesser than 300-310 are likely to be chased in today's game, unless the chasing team turns out to be Pakistan, where a Babar failure means a potential 150 all-out situation.
Happens to the best.
