The Babar Azam versus Virat Kohli comparison

[Farabi]

All positive on Babar’s talent ofcourse.
Indians will always remember Pakistani players are the Brazil of cricket without the tournament wins.

Babar is not Kohli but he doesn’t have to be to still go down as a GOAT. No matter how much you and others troll him, unfortunately the trolling will not stop him from getting there.

 

[Farabi]

I will say that those people aren’t real fans of cricket but just deeply influenced by the communal, political hatred. I am from Bharat, a Brahmin Hindu, and i can tell you that majority of the people in my circle talk about Babar, Rizwan, Inzamam, Younis, Misbah with immense respect. Half for their cricketing credentials and the rest for the way they have behaved on field and in media. The likes of Shoaib Akhtar, Afridi, etc are also admired but more for their cricketing ability and less for their behaviour. But Babar Azam in particular is seen as a thorough gentleman and a very very fine batter. His cover drive in undeniably the most elegant looking and many of us wished he had done a lot more for Pakistan.

People tend to behave like animals when they are acting as a collective group in our parts of the world. Genuine fans of the game in both countries will never be disrespectful to great cricketers and especially to well behaved cricketers. For example Misbah may not be the greatest ever but we respect him for stabilising Pakistan cricket with his strong leadership.

There's no comparison between Babar and Kohli—anyone making such comparisons clearly doesn’t understand cricket. As a Pakistani fan, Kohli has given me plenty of heartbreaks, yet I deeply admire him. His fighting spirit, relentless hard work, will to be the best, and refusal to give up are an inspiration for the entire region. He's also been incredibly gracious and friendly to Pakistanis off the field. Sometimes, I wish he played for Pakistan.

Kohli and Rohit are the reason many Pakistanis dread India-Pakistan games—we fear the humiliation they often bring. Babar isn't Kohli, not just in terms of stats or impact, but because of the difference in personality and mental attitude. Kohli embodies a killer instinct, a match-winning mentality, and the mindset of a true champion.

 

[Bhaijaan]

There's no comparison between Babar and Kohli—anyone making such comparisons clearly doesn’t understand cricket. As a Pakistani fan, Kohli has given me plenty of heartbreaks, yet I deeply admire him. His fighting spirit, relentless hard work, will to be the best, and refusal to give up are an inspiration for the entire region. He's also been incredibly gracious and friendly to Pakistanis off the field. Sometimes, I wish he played for Pakistan.

Kohli and Rohit are the reason many Pakistanis dread India-Pakistan games—we fear the humiliation they often bring. Babar isn't Kohli, not just in terms of stats or impact, but because of the difference in personality and mental attitude. Kohli embodies a killer instinct, a match-winning mentality, and the mindset of a true champion.

Yes, unfortunately.
Forget Saeed Anwar, Inzy, Yousuf etc but he’s even failed to emulate someone like Salman Butt who despite being an average batter had a lot of centuries against Bharat including in big games like the Platinum jubilee match at Eden Gardens.

Babar Azam has failed to unleash himself as a top batter and it’s disappointing because we all know the talent is definitely there. It’s been a long wait to see him taking his game to the best level. He needs to turn it around big time now. I say forget about batting average and all for a while and just go out there and blast the bowling. He should take inspiration from late 90s Tendulkar before the Tennis elbow injury. I remain a believer in Babar. Hopefully we do get to see special big match knocks from him in the future. Hopefully not against Bharat.

 

[Farabi]

Yes, unfortunately.
Forget Saeed Anwar, Inzy, Yousuf etc but he’s even failed to emulate someone like Salman Butt who despite being an average batter had a lot of centuries against Bharat including in big games like the Platinum jubilee match at Eden Gardens.

Babar Azam has failed to unleash himself as a top batter and it’s disappointing because we all know the talent is definitely there. It’s been a long wait to see him taking his game to the best level. He needs to turn it around big time now. I say forget about batting average and all for a while and just go out there and blast the bowling. He should take inspiration from late 90s Tendulkar before the Tennis elbow injury. I remain a believer in Babar. Hopefully we do get to see special big match knocks from him in the future. Hopefully not against Bharat.

True. His lack of performances against India and in ICC tournaments have actually pegged him down a notch. If he doesn’t turn it around soon, time is running out.
Pakistan’s lack of fight against India, specially in ODIs is because of Imam and Babar going missing.

 

[JaDed]

Babar is not Kohli but he doesn’t have to be to still go down as a GOAT. No matter how much you and others troll him, unfortunately the trolling will not stop him from getting there.

Babar is already a GOAT for his fans, nothing has stopped him.

 

[Farabi]

Babar is already a GOAT for his fans, nothing has stopped him.

I am not sure what your sample size is.
Have you been paying attention on this forum? You will find a lot of criticism on this forum, sometimes really harsh criticism too.
If Pakistan loses and babar scores a century while the rest of the batting unit scores nothing, it’s still Babar who will get criticized. Even if he top scores with a 70 odd and team loses, the blame is put on Babar because there is literally no one else in this team who takes responsibility apart from Rizwan, who is quite limited himself.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Mohammad Amir speaking during an interview:

“Babar Azam still has five to seven years in his career, Virat Kohli is moving towards the end of his career and has already left a legacy in cricket. In my opinion, as a cricketer, there is no comparison. If in five to seven years from now, Babar Azam will still be at that level, you can talk about Babar's legacy too and call him a legend. Babar Azam has just hit his peak, while Virat Kohli has seen it all and may retire in a year or two. Making a comparison is foolish, given Babar's ongoing career."

 

[heddie19]

Mohammad Amir speaking during an interview:

“Babar Azam still has five to seven years in his career, Virat Kohli is moving towards the end of his career and has already left a legacy in cricket. In my opinion, as a cricketer, there is no comparison. If in five to seven years from now, Babar Azam will still be at that level, you can talk about Babar's legacy too and call him a legend. Babar Azam has just hit his peak, while Virat Kohli has seen it all and may retire in a year or two. Making a comparison is foolish, given Babar's ongoing career."

Kohli is better as of today across all 3 tournaments with ODIs being the closest which is each's best.

Huge Babar fan but will admit facts.

 

[giri26]

Virat and Babar are the same in Tests as both are mediocre right now. Virat is ahead in both T20Is and ODIs even at the end of his career.