Comparison between Azhar Ali and Virat Kohli in Tests

[khurram39]

Most of the time both batted at one down position but recently Azhar batted as opener too. In terms of average & strike rate & no. of centuries Virat is better but most of the time playing in home conditions. Azhar has more fifties and always playing away.

Wants to know who you think is a better test batsman and if someone asked you to pick one out of them for away series whom you pick?

 

[Cric1234]

Easily Kohli Azhar is a limited batsman but can be a decent opener.

 

[Madplayer]

Is this just for Tests ?

 

[khurram39]

Yes. because Azhar is not in in other formats

 

[msb314]

Most of the time both batted at one down position but recently Azhar batted as opener too. In terms of average & strike rate & no. of centuries Virat is better but most of the time playing in home conditions. Azhar has more fifties and always playing away.

Wants to know who you think is a better test batsman and if someone asked you to pick one out of them for away series whom you pick?

Kohli's away record is phenomenal and is rightfully considered an ATG.

No comparison whatsoever with Azhar Ali who might become a Pakistani great but not an ATG that Kohli is destined to be.

/Thread
[MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION]

 

[Hasan123]

Kohli is leagues ahead and this is no embarrassment for Azhar who is a world class test batsmen in his own right.

 

[khurram39]

Batting Statistics
Test Match
Mat Inns Out NO Runs HS Ave BP SR 200s 100s 50s 0s 4s 6s Ct St
Virat Kohli 59 101 94 7 4658 235 49.55 8315 56.01 4 13 14 5 526 13 57 0
Azhar Ali 58 110 102 8 4723 302 46.30 11263 41.93 2 9 25 10 440 13 56 0

 

[khurram39]

Virat Kohli

Venue Mat Inns NO 100s 50s 0s HS Runs Avg S/R Ca St
Home 28 47 5 7 9 1 235 2311 55.02 55.41 27 0
Away 30 54 2 10 5 4 200 2347 45.13 56.64 24 0
Overall 60 101 7 17 14 5 235 4658 49.55 56.02 57 0

Azhar Ali

Venue Mat Inns NO 100s 50s 0s HS Runs Avg S/R Ca St
Away 62 118 8 14 27 11 302* 5129 46.63 41.65 55 0
Overall 62 118 8 14 27 11 302* 5129 46.63 41.65 60 0

 

[Ab Fan]

Since opening is the toughest job to do, an AVG of 47 is equivalent to an AVG of 52+ and hence Azhar is on his way to become an ATG.

 

[another drop catch]

Azhar is better in tests while Kohli is already ATG in LOIs

 

[New Yorker]

Azhar is better in tests while Kohli is already ATG in LOIs

One of those rare times when I have to agree with [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION]. One of the world's least impactful batsmen in the world, vs one of the most impactful. No one has mastered the skill of scoring meaningless dead runs like Azhar Ali. In one of the great ironies, Azhar's innings in the CT final, in a format he was born to ruin, may well go down as the best of his career.

 

[Cric1234]

In UAE opening isnt as difficult Hafeez does well here others have too strike rate also counts having a 40 strike rate means you have less impact on the match overall.

 

[another drop catch]

One of those rare times when I have to agree with [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION]. One of the world's least impactful batsmen in the world, vs one of the most impactful. No one has mastered the skill of scoring meaningless dead runs like Azhar Ali. In one of the great ironies, Azhar's innings in the CT final, in a format he was born to ruin, may well go down as the best of his career.

still Azhar ali shows consistency in longer format

 

[Ab Fan]

Azhar Ali is the Pakistani batting equivalent of Alastair Cook IMO. Both strike at a rate of 40+ and are very good openers for their team.

Although Azhar has a 200 Vs Starc, Hazelwood attack in Australia something Cook never managed Vs top quality pace attack, but Cook is a better player of spin.

Since Cookie had the cushion of star player KP in the team and Root more recently, it was easy going for him to play at his own rate. Azhar can't really afford that because he plays for a very weak team.

 

[Princejain191]

There is absolutely no comparison between the two in any format.

If we remove the average oppositions:

Azhar Ali
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/en...orderby=default;template=results;type=batting

Virat Kohli
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/en...orderby=default;template=results;type=batting

So Azhars average drops down to 41 and Virats increases to 50.
Azhar averages 37.25 away while for Virat, it is 48.84.
Azhar has an amazing record against Australia and averages around 33-34 against all else. Virat averages 44+ against all.

Azhar is probably the best Pakistan batsman but pretty far off from Virat.

 

[Mamoon]

A daft comparison. Comparing Azhar to Kohli is as bad as comparing Zaheer Khan to Wasim. Kohli is lightyears ahead of Azhar.

Kohli is an incredible batsman who belongs in the league of Sachin, Lara and Ponting when it comes to modern batsman. He is an ATG in the making and a better batsman than anyone we have ever produced. Yes he is not there yet in Tests, but let's not kid ourselves; it is only a matter of time. His ceiling is way higher than batsmen like Miandad, Inzamam, MoYo, Younis etc.

Azhar is a solid player with excellent temperament that allows him to play long innings. However, he does not have the shots to get on top of the bowling. Even after spending hours at the crease, he is not able to dictate the tempo of the innings, and will only play a shot if the ball is in his arc. His timing is poor, he has no power game, and he has very few shots in his arsenal. When he tries to force the issue he looks uneasy at the crease. You can clearly easy that he is not a natural batsman and has manufactured some success due to sheer grit.

The difference between Sami, Masood and Azhar is his superior temperament and defense which allows him to last longer than them. They limp their way to 40 in 100 balls and Azhar limps his way to 80 in 200 balls, but the impact of all of them on the game is the same, i.e. zero.

There is a reason why Azhar doesn't have the reputation of a world class batsman, and that is because he isn't. The only thing he is world class at playing average boosting, dead runs that doesn't put the team in a match-winning position.

On the other hand, Kohli possesses the fear factor and the opposition respect him. They are aware that if he gets going and scores big, India would more often than not win the game. They are only a handful of batsmen today who can be compared to him, and Azhar is not close to that level.

Azhar is simply too slow to be our star batsman, which is why it's crucial that Babar and Haris develop into world class Test batsmen. They have the ability to bat at the tempo at which the modern world class players play.

As far as the comparisons with Cook are concerned, the only similarity so far is that both are defensive batsmen. However, Cook has played some series-changing knocks and he scored mountains of runs in India and Australia which helped England win the series and yielded him the MoS awards.

For an English batsman, taking his team to Test series wins in Australia and India and winning MoS awards in both series is as good as it gets. For that alone, Cook is a legend and Azhar so far has not achieved half of that.

 

[Ab Fan]

Both the series had pretty depleted opposition attack or side.

It's like if India tours Pakistan currently in UAE when there is no Misbah and YK, India would easily beat Pakistan in UAE with Ashwin destroying their batting lineup and becoming the MOS.

Nevertheless, not diminishing Cook here as both were great performances and hence a very good test player but Azhar is also capable of being a leading scorer in Australia or India when their attack is weaker. He recently piled lots of runs in Australia against a better attack. He doesn't have the side to win there.

 

[Ab Fan]

Kohli has a higher ceiling than these two though. No question.

 

[Buffet]

Most of the time both batted at one down position but recently Azhar batted as opener too. In terms of average & strike rate & no. of centuries Virat is better but most of the time playing in home conditions. Azhar has more fifties and always playing away.

Wants to know who you think is a better test batsman and if someone asked you to pick one out of them for away series whom you pick?

Kohli has 17 tons and 10 of them are outside of India.

 

[abhayjj]

these threads are always "bump" worthy

 

[CanadianG00se]

Azhar Ali is a very good batsman who have limited range of shots. He can blunt the new ball and prevent the collapse but he is also very limited when it comes to scoring quickly. First test match against SL would’ve won if Azhar Ali played with bit of more intent. He scored 80 odd runs with strikerate of 30s, thats too low even for test standard. Had he played lil bit more quickly and scored say with strikerate of 40-45 then he would’ve score additinal 30-35 runs, and that would’ve won the game for Pakistan. Overall very good batsman, but i dont see him getting the reputation of worldclass batsman, he is someone who can earn you draw from the jaws of defeat but very rarely he would convert a draw(or even loss) into win.

 

[Cuts_and_cuts_hard]

Azhar has been excellent for us and is very underrated.

But Kohli is better. He has done it consistently overseas and has an extra gear compared to Azhar. He's also 4 years younger and his peak years are still not done yet. Not many people realize that Azhar is almost 33. In a few years, we will have to look for replacements.

 

[squarecut]

Opening such thread shows that the OP has lots of free time and he cannot think of any better way to spend that time than thinking of such odious comparisons.

 

[Jave]

Kohli is million times better than Azhar who I think is vastly overrated and gets his way to centuries by blocking to an extent where bowlers get disinterested

 

[Bilal7]

Not much of a difference between the two. Kohli has performed better in South Africa, albeit in friendlier conditions than were given to Azhar, while the Pakistani has done better in England. Kohli has four centuries in Australia, Azhar has a double in Australia.

Kohli's home pitches range from being extremely difficult for batsmen to becoming batting paradises at times, while Azhar plays his home matches on roads 90% of the time. However, Azhar has batted one down or opened the batting, while Kohli has batted lower-down the order.

I would give the edge to Kohli for now, but it's definitely not a one-sided comparison.

 

[Bilal7]

Azhar Ali is a very good batsman who have limited range of shots. He can blunt the new ball and prevent the collapse but he is also very limited when it comes to scoring quickly. First test match against SL would’ve won if Azhar Ali played with bit of more intent. He scored 80 odd runs with strikerate of 30s, thats too low even for test standard. Had he played lil bit more quickly and scored say with strikerate of 40-45 then he would’ve score additinal 30-35 runs, and that would’ve won the game for Pakistan. Overall very good batsman, but i dont see him getting the reputation of worldclass batsman, he is someone who can earn you draw from the jaws of defeat but very rarely he would convert a draw(or even loss) into win.

Erase Kohli's ODI record and people would not be rating him as highly as they do. People do call Azhar Ali a world-class test batsman. Not sure who would make it to a text XI as an opener over him.

Kohli's is easily ahead overall, but in the realm of test cricket, Azhar is no slouch (no pun intended).

 

[BunnyRabbit]

Azhar has a superior defensive game while Kohli has a superior attacking game.

Kohli can singlehandedly change the game scenario, while Azhar isn't able to. Doesn't change the fact that Azhar is a bloody good batsman

 

[Hitman]

Azhar needs to improve his SR, he would be a really, really good batsman if he is able to do that. As of now, he's just a good batsman and that's primarily because of his SR.

 

[rashmin]

Finally a thread where all the posts are rational without unnecessary bashing a player.

 

[CanadianG00se]

Erase Kohli's ODI record and people would not be rating him as highly as they do. People do call Azhar Ali a world-class test batsman. Not sure who would make it to a text XI as an opener over him.

Kohli's is easily ahead overall, but in the realm of test cricket, Azhar is no slouch (no pun intended).

If you haven’t noticed, I wasn’t even comparing Kohli and A Ali. I merely pointed out my opinion on Azhar Ali the test batsman, which you may or may not agree with. Secondly, i agree with you on your statement that Azhar Ali is only slightly behind V Kohli (test) as both of them have been pretty good batsman for their respective teams. The major difference in my view is that unlike A Ali, Kohli can bat at much higher strike rate in test matches and can take the game away from opposition. Kohli is also very vulnerable to fall early compared to Azhar as he tries to play too many shots early in his innings, so if i want a batman that could hold up one end and protect middle order, Id select Ali and if im looking to set a target in quick time then Kohli is the man. Both batsmen have contrasting approach and both are very successful in their own way. I dont see a need to insult one in order to praise the other. Both batsmen are very good(not great, not yet) and if they continue with improved performance for few more years, then perhaps they will go down as great or even ATG. When you’re comparing two batsmen you also need to compare the overall team’s batting strength. Azhar is the main batsman for Pakistani team, whereas Kohli is probably 3rd best batsman in Indian lineup. Whenever Azhar fails, Pakistan also fails to put up decent score, whereas even if Kohli fails there is likely chances that India would still score heavily. Azhar may not bat freely thinking if he fails playin fancy shot his teaming would fall behind, whereas Kohli knows even if he fails there is Rahane coming after him. So, comparing Azhar and Kohli is not exactly ideal as both of them are having different roles and requirements for their respective team.

Coming to ODIS, well let say Azhar Ali wouldn’t even make it to Indian squad for duleep trophy let alone India A or even Indian regular. He is very limited batsman in Odis and would suck the life out of any momentum the other batsmen may have created. His initial Tuk tuk isnt the problem, his inability to up the tempo later in the inning is the main problem. We have R Sharma who also tuk tuk in first 10 overs, but once he is set, he can score very fast and catch up with all the tuk tuk. Im sure most of you Pakistani fans wouldnt mind Azhar tuk tuk initially if he was capable of blasting later in the innings.

 

[Bilal7]

If you haven’t noticed, I wasn’t even comparing Kohli and A Ali. I merely pointed out my opinion on Azhar Ali the test batsman, which you may or may not agree with. Secondly, i agree with you on your statement that Azhar Ali is only slightly behind V Kohli (test) as both of them have been pretty good batsman for their respective teams. The major difference in my view is that unlike A Ali, Kohli can bat at much higher strike rate in test matches and can take the game away from opposition. Kohli is also very vulnerable to fall early compared to Azhar as he tries to play too many shots early in his innings, so if i want a batman that could hold up one end and protect middle order, Id select Ali and if im looking to set a target in quick time then Kohli is the man. Both batsmen have contrasting approach and both are very successful in their own way. I dont see a need to insult one in order to praise the other. Both batsmen are very good(not great, not yet) and if they continue with improved performance for few more years, then perhaps they will go down as great or even ATG. When you’re comparing two batsmen you also need to compare the overall team’s batting strength. Azhar is the main batsman for Pakistani team, whereas Kohli is probably 3rd best batsman in Indian lineup. Whenever Azhar fails, Pakistan also fails to put up decent score, whereas even if Kohli fails there is likely chances that India would still score heavily. Azhar may not bat freely thinking if he fails playin fancy shot his teaming would fall behind, whereas Kohli knows even if he fails there is Rahane coming after him. So, comparing Azhar and Kohli is not exactly ideal as both of them are having different roles and requirements for their respective team.

Coming to ODIS, well let say Azhar Ali wouldn’t even make it to Indian squad for duleep trophy let alone India A or even Indian regular. He is very limited batsman in Odis and would suck the life out of any momentum the other batsmen may have created. His initial Tuk tuk isnt the problem, his inability to up the tempo later in the inning is the main problem. We have R Sharma who also tuk tuk in first 10 overs, but once he is set, he can score very fast and catch up with all the tuk tuk. Im sure most of you Pakistani fans wouldnt mind Azhar tuk tuk initially if he was capable of blasting later in the innings.

Azhar is comparable to Rahane in ODIs, who regularly makes the Indian XI. Let's not get carried away. However, that does not matter because both of them are mediocre ODI batsmen. However, this thread is only about test cricket, hence my post about erasing Kohli's ODI record and then forming your opinion.

 

[Hermoine Green]

LOL at those who are saying Kohli is miles better than Azhar in Test cricket. Yep, Kohli is better for now, but miles better?

 

[Hitman]

Azhar Ali - 126 innings; Not Outs - 8; Runs - 5224; Ave - 44.27; SR - 41.38, 100's - 14; 50's - 28

UAE - 49 innings; 52.04 (ave); 100's - 6; 50's - 14

Away - 77 innings; 39.64 (ave); 100's - 8; 50's - 14

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kohli - 123 innings; Not Outs - 8; Runs - 6286; Ave - 54.66; SR - 58.27, 100's - 24; 50's - 19

India - 53 innings; 65.10 (ave); 100's - 11; 50's - 10

Away - 70 innings; 47.44 (ave); 100's - 13; 50's - 9

 

[Hitman]

2 years down the line ....

Kahan Raja Bhoj,
Kahan Gangu Teli.

 

[Unleashed]

Erase Kohli's ODI record and people would not be rating him as highly as they do. People do call Azhar Ali a world-class test batsman. Not sure who would make it to a text XI as an opener over him.

Kohli's is easily ahead overall, but in the realm of test cricket, Azhar is no slouch (no pun intended).

Outstanding logic this.

 

[tyron_woodley]

lol what a a joke thread.

let's compare smith wirh azhar too now.

how about kane vs azhar
maybe root vs azhar.

 

[Mainul]

M Innings. Runs Avg SR Century

84 141 7202 55.0 57.8. 27


This is Virat

=======================================

M. Innings. Runs Avg. SR. Century

75 142 5722 42.70 41.40 15

This is Azhar Ali

=======================================

Same number of innings but the difference in runs, SR, avg, century is huge

 

[Shoaib88]

It'a amazing how delusional and pathetic some fans can be.