"It is my hope that Babar Azam will become a bigger player like Virat Kohli" : Shahid Afridi

[MenInG]

"It is my hope that Babar Azam will become a bigger player like Virat Kohli" : Shahid Afridi

Speaking with Shoaib Akhtar:

"All teams have come to the WC with a lot of preparation"

"But we are still making the same mistakes - even today we are crying about fielding, fitness"

"The people in this team are the best players from our country"

"At this point you have only one player who is playing with consistency and that is Babar Azam"

"It is my hope that Babar Azam will become a bigger player like Virat Kohli"

"But he wont become that player if he plays 50-60 balls , scores 50-60 runs but doesnt help in Pakistan winning the game"

"He needs to play long innings, you have the example of Indian players - whenever they score runs, they play long innings"

"All depends on your thinking and also on what kind of coaching is being done for the player" [answer to Akhtar asking why BA Slows down after his fifty]

"Lets take example of the experienced Rahul Dravid who is teaching U19 kids, in our case we have M Yousuf, A Razzaq and Younis Khan who is as professional a player as you will find - we should ask them to work with the U19 team"

"We need to have guys who have the right skills as just being talented wont work in today's cricket"

"We need to have guys who have the right skills as just being talented wont work in today's cricket"

"Is this is the first time this has happened? [dragging families into criticism of cricketers] - This happens every time when we lose"

"This is because people have huge expectations from Pakistan players and I believe media should have a positive role also"

"Why are we good in T20Is? Its because we play fearless cricket"

"In our domestic cricket OD Cricket is played less, 4-Day and T20 is played more"

Afridi's forecast? Semi-finalists: Australia, India, England and New Zealand

Final between : India and England

 

[Ronaldo7]

At least he's being unbiased.

 

[Titan24]

"The people in this team are the best players from our country"

Never agreed on such statements with Afridi even when he was the captain in the 2016 T20 world cup. On what merit these are the best players of the country?

 

[Chokli]

He should be the last one giving out advice considering the way he approached his cricket.

Lost us more matches than he won...Sure he has the most MOTM awards but he could have doubled that amount.

 

[Syed1]

Kohli is Kohli not just because of his batting talent. He is Kohli because of his hardwork, fitness, temperament, mental strength, aggression and in-your-face attitude. Can you list how many of these qualities does Babar possess?

 

[Ronaldo7]

Kohli is Kohli not just because of his batting talent. He is Kohli because of his hardwork, fitness, temperament, mental strength, aggression and in-your-face attitude. Can you list how many of these qualities does Babar possess?

Babar is hardworking.

 

[Mueez]

I would be extremely happy if Babar could achieve 50% what Kohli has done.

Kohli is on another level.

 

[gazza619]

Meanwhile the England dressing room is in panic mode.

England is down and I wont be surprised if they choke their way in the remaining games.

Afridi needs to reconsider those semi finalists.

 

[Kroll]

Babar is hardworking.

Has he got the desire and hunger to push the boundaries (pardon the pun) and will he stop at nothing to be the best?

 

[Ronaldo7]

Has he got the desire and hunger to push the boundaries (pardon the pun) and will he stop at nothing to be the best?

Dunno but from what I've heard about him he works for many hours on his deficiencies unlike his cousin Umar

 

[sshakir411]

Still waiting for Babar to win us a pressure game.

 

[coy0607]

He should be the last one giving out advice considering the way he approached his cricket.

Lost us more matches than he won...Sure he has the most MOTM awards but he could have doubled that amount.

He's not giving anyone any advice.

Akhtar asked his for an interview so he's answering the questions asked of him.

Everything he said is perfectly reasonable

 

[coy0607]

"The people in this team are the best players from our country"

Never agreed on such statements with Afridi even when he was the captain in the 2016 T20 world cup. On what merit these are the best players of the country?

Give or take 1 or 2, these are the two best cricketers in Pakistan. It's not like we have a dozen elite players sitting at home.

You can say Shinwari, Junaid, Rizwan should've been there. But otherwise these are the best 15 cricketers in Pakistan

 

[iPakistani]

Kohli is Kohli not just because of his batting talent. He is Kohli because of his hardwork, fitness, temperament, mental strength, aggression and in-your-face attitude. Can you list how many of these qualities does Babar possess?

None of them sound like Babar but Imam possesses all them attributes.

 

[KingKhan12]

He should be the last one giving out advice considering the way he approached his cricket.

Lost us more matches than he won...Sure he has the most MOTM awards but he could have doubled that amount.

Well how many times when he came in to bat games were already lost with over 100 runs needed in 8 overs. Many times. He rescued us many times from Jaws of defeat and their was some instances when game was in balance and he won some and lost some. But many games were lost by the time he came in and those games get put on his shoulders.

 

[Sunny_majoka]

he will become one day he is still young and has all the ingredients

 

[Zeshan547]

not in a million years, his ceiling is Amla level. He may end up with even better stats than kohli, but impact wise he will not 1/10th the player kohli is. He just doest have kind of personality, hunger and desire, secondly he is Pakistani, and don't have the batting culture and support which Kohli enjoyed.

 

[UP]

Not a match winner yet. Too soft.

 

[Usman Chadda]

Not when idiotic reporters ask him dumb questions about him being selfish.

 

[Itachi]

"The people in this team are the best players from our country"

Never agreed on such statements with Afridi even when he was the captain in the 2016 T20 world cup. On what merit these are the best players of the country?

Jazba

 

[Itachi]

Not when idiotic reporters ask him dumb questions about him being selfish.

People fail to understand in his limitations. People fail to understand that he can't change gears and increase his SR even if his life depends on it. In the end, it looks like he is selfish while he is not.

 

[MMHS]

Babar comment is his personal wish or hope, rather than a "forecast", which he is entitled. I also would like Liton to be better than Mark Waugh and Mosaddek to be better than Hari De Silva.

Otherwise, quite decent & sensible comments to be honest. I do agree that these are the best possible players from PAK for this WC - the bottle is quite empty actually. May be, I won't have picked 2 inexperienced pacers, won't have picked Malik and would have picked may be Umar - rest actually are the best available after scratching the bottom of the barrel. The damage was done 2-3 years back - after 2017 CT, few unmovable objects had to be kicked out unceremoniously - I am sure PAK won't have done worse than 4-23 .... but, in WC, they could have fought better with a younger team.

I found only two statements a bit wired -

"Why are we good in T20Is? Its because we play fearless cricket"

"In our domestic cricket OD Cricket is played less, 4-Day and T20 is played more"

No, PAK isn't good in T20 for playing fearless cricket - there is nothing actually called fearless cricket. Same player can't be fearless & scared just for the change of format. PAK is good in T20 only because most teams don't give a damn about bilateral T20s and play substandard teams. And that game actually isn't cricket - it doesn't need few fundamentals of cricket - mental endurance, situational intelligence, planning for building an innings or getting a batsman out, tactical reading/changing ability during a game and most importantly core skills of the game, be with ball or bat. Even then, PAK has missed last 2 SFs of T20 WCs and next one is in AUS - I'll definitely stick around that time (IA) here in PP, to face some troll music if PAK makes it .... no, not to the Cup, to SF.

And, no PAK domestic doesn't focus on 4 day cricket - rather plays 4 T20s in the wrap of FC games. It's better not to play 4 innings game at all, if the total duration of the game is 250 overs max..

 

[Justcrazy]

Babar can be like Kohli.

He is just another good player , far away from being great.

 

[CrIc_Mystique]

Speaking with Shoaib Akhtar:

"All teams have come to the WC with a lot of preparation"

"But we are still making the same mistakes - even today we are crying about fielding, fitness"

"The people in this team are the best players from our country"

"At this point you have only one player who is playing with consistency and that is Babar Azam"

"It is my hope that Babar Azam will become a bigger player like Virat Kohli"

"But he wont become that player if he plays 50-60 balls , scores 50-60 runs but doesnt help in Pakistan winning the game"

"He needs to play long innings, you have the example of Indian players - whenever they score runs, they play long innings"

"All depends on your thinking and also on what kind of coaching is being done for the player" [answer to Akhtar asking why BA Slows down after his fifty]

"Lets take example of the experienced Rahul Dravid who is teaching U19 kids, in our case we have M Yousuf, A Razzaq and Younis Khan who is as professional a player as you will find - we should ask them to work with the U19 team"

"We need to have guys who have the right skills as just being talented wont work in today's cricket"

"We need to have guys who have the right skills as just being talented wont work in today's cricket"

"Is this is the first time this has happened? [dragging families into criticism of cricketers] - This happens every time when we lose"

"This is because people have huge expectations from Pakistan players and I believe media should have a positive role also"

"Why are we good in T20Is? Its because we play fearless cricket"

"In our domestic cricket OD Cricket is played less, 4-Day and T20 is played more"

Afridi's forecast? Semi-finalists: Australia, India, England and New Zealand

Final between : India and England

Keep dreamin dude....Imran dreamt and wished the same for Inzi against Sachin.....however, it still can happen....with a lot of hardwork, discpline etc....

 

[uberkoen]

These Babar Azam Virat Kohli comparisons really need to stop. It's not doing anyone any favours and looks a bit silly.

 

[cricketfan11]

Pakistan has never produced a Bradman or Tendulkar
But they have produced players like Miandad, Inzamam and Younis.
They need pressure players and match winners. This is because batting is not their strength so they will not be playing with multiple batsmen who can score tonnes of runs.
Hence, Babar scoring lots of runs is unlikely to help them win matches unless those runs are scored in pressure situations.
Cricket has changed now. One or two batsmen scoring will not win you matches anymore - others need to contribute and strike rates need to be high.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

When someone says i hope he becomes a good player like Kohli or Ponting, they are just trying to give an example of a great player. They certainly don't mean to compare them.
It wouldn't make sense or might not even be a compliment if one would say "I hope Babar can become a good batsman like Ijaz Ahmed or Jacques Rudolph"

 

[Ganju Baba]

Babar is well ahead of Kohli at the same age, will easily surpass Kohli by the time he is 30-31.

Heck Kohli is not even in top 10 rankings in T20 while Babar is ruling the list like a boss.

 

[jiduguravindra]

Babar is well ahead of Kohli at the same age, will easily surpass Kohli by the time he is 30-31.

Heck Kohli is not even in top 10 rankings in T20 while Babar is ruling the list like a boss.

Kohli has been player of the wt20 for 2 times...how many Babar has?

 

[msb314]

Kohli is Kohli not just because of his batting talent. He is Kohli because of his hardwork, fitness, temperament, mental strength, aggression and in-your-face attitude. Can you list how many of these qualities does Babar possess?

Hardwork, fitness, temperament, mental strength and even aggression when needed.

 

[Ronaldo7]

Kohli has been player of the wt20 for 2 times...how many Babar has?

How many has babar even played in?

Not even one

 

[anoop]

Babar is well ahead of Kohli at the same age, will easily surpass Kohli by the time he is 30-31.

Heck Kohli is not even in top 10 rankings in T20 while Babar is ruling the list like a boss.

Kohli had 133 & 183 types of innings by this time (24-25 age) . Babar hasn't done anything like it yet.

 

[anoop]

How many has babar even played in?

Not even one

So when he does that ,then, compare them.

 

[Ronaldo7]

Kohli had 133 & 183 types of innings by this time (24-25 age) . Babar hasn't done anything like it yet.

I think Ganju Baba is being sarcastic

 

[Hasan123]

Babar Azam doesn't need to be better than Kohli to have a good career for Pakistan. Why can't the people who make this comparison just understand this ?

 

[PakLFC]

Kohli is always gonna be heaps better. Get real!

 

[The_Odd_One]

Babar has to first surpass Dhawan and then Sharma. Let's not even compare him with Kohli.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Apart from the fact he has lesser top gear he is alright.

 

[Thinking_Cap]

extrapolating someone's next 5 - 10 years can be very dangerous. It can also be called the Vinod Kambli argument......How many players are talked up when they are 24 and end up as greats? This 'Same Age' argument is a bit risky.

 

[Revolution]

Looking all the threads.. Pakistan is obsessed with indian players.

Pakistan till now they are not produced players like Sachin, Kohli, Dhoni nor Shewag from batting.

Few were talented but couldn't reach the top.

This is the difference between indian batting and pak batting.

 

[PakLFC]

I hope Babar becomes a world class batsman who wins matches for Pakistan on his own when required. That's all, it will delight me if it happens.

 

[cricketfan11]

Looking all the threads.. Pakistan is obsessed with indian players.

Pakistan till now they are not produced players like Sachin, Kohli, Dhoni nor Shewag from batting.

Few were talented but couldn't reach the top.

This is the difference between indian batting and pak batting.

Until the last 10-15 years Pakistan didn't need a Tendulkar or Kohli.
That is because they had some of the world's best bowlers who could win matches for them.

 

[Surya Kiran]

Until the last 10-15 years Pakistan didn't need a Tendulkar or Kohli.
That is because they had some of the world's best bowlers who could win matches for them.

Domestic systems are also very different. For a batsman to make a mark in India, he has to go through so many levels such as state, zone, India "A" and has to churn out runs by a bucketful every single time.

Pakistani young batsmen also don't get enough game time in their formative years I suppose