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[VIDEOS] Babar Azam v Virat Kohli: who is the bigger butterfingers?

Rana

Rana

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Top class batsmen of the sub continent.

But I am shocked to see Babar Azam dropping dollies at first slip in a pressure situation. We have never really discussed Babar’s fielding more often because he gets away as a world class batsman. But I am truly appalled today! Kohli was dropping Dollies in Australia also.

Abysmal catching by these two greats of the game! Two of the best batsmen in the world but they can’t catch!
 
Babar has not dropped that many as compared to kholi but its still early days for him and may go on to drop even more. Kohli has always been a hit and miss fielder though out his long career, he is largely good at ground fielding and able to throw himself around but drops way too many to be considered a good fielder.
 
No babar cannot be compared to kohli who has already taken his "dropped catches" game to another level. Babar needs to preform like kohli has all around the world ,not just at home before even coming close to kohlis feats. Lets see of babar can repeat kohlis exploits in austrailia.
 
Babar is generally a gun fielder. However, slip fielding is a specialist’s job, and he’s not as good doing that.

Babar is much better at stopping in the inner ring, taking outfield catches, and has a gun arm that often hits the stumps or comes close enough. Just day before yesterday, he stopped the ball, recovered quickly, and threw the ball to Rizwan who in turn was able to effect a brilliant runout.

Virat is also not as bad as people say, but his butterfingers moments have been in the inner ring and outfield which is a bigger sin than dropped slip catches.

As far as Babar goes, I’m not sure who else is a better slip fielder in the team, would be worth giving Imran Butt a go. The only other pair of safe hands in the slips that we had was Asad Shafiq.
 
Thunderbolt14 said:
Babar is generally a gun fielder. However, slip fielding is a specialist’s job, and he’s not as good doing that.

Babar is much better at stopping in the inner ring, taking outfield catches, and has a gun arm that often hits the stumps or comes close enough. Just day before yesterday, he stopped the ball, recovered quickly, and threw the ball to Rizwan who in turn was able to effect a brilliant runout.

Virat is also not as bad as people say, but his butterfingers moments have been in the inner ring and outfield which is a bigger sin than dropped slip catches.

As far as Babar goes, I’m not sure who else is a better slip fielder in the team, would be worth giving Imran Butt a go. The only other pair of safe hands in the slips that we had was Asad Shafiq.
Click to expand...

Kholi used to field in the slips but was quickly removed after dropping a few in succession. Now he fields in this slips if needs must.
 
Fakhar Zaman (outfield)
Babar Azam (inner ring)
Shadab Khan (inner ring)
Imam ul Haq (inner ring)
Mohammad Hafeez (outfield)
Shoaib Malik (outfield)
Mohammad Rizwan (keeper)
Asad Shafiq (slips)
Haris Sohail (slips)

These guys (across formats) are all proper world class in the respective positions. Imran Butt, if he is able to stake a long term claim as opener, may add himself to this list as slip fielder.

Yes Babar dropped a dolly and a half today, but I believe it’s a bigger captaincy mistake than a fielding mistake to have himself there instead of Imran Butt.
 
Defonitely should be catching them.imran butt look like a specialist slip fielder
 
Rana said:
Top class batsmen of the sub continent.

Abysmal catching by these two greats of the game! Two of the best batsmen in the world but they can’t catch!
Click to expand...

:91:

I love how you have grouped them together. If someone is new to cricket, he/she would think that they are at a comparable level as far as batting is concerned.
 
Babar is a pretty good catcher normally.
Nothing to be compared with VK who is a shocking catcher.
 
Kohli has taken some screamers. However, he has not been a good fielder in recent times, in terms of catches. His fielding awareness is still good.

Babar shouldn't be a slip fielder, he should be on the infield, particularly at mid-on so that he can see LBW calls and also see what the batsman is trying to do, and adjust the field from then. I've heard that Imran Butt is a good slip fielder in domestic cricket, so maybe he should be at that slip position. Abid Ali is taking more catches at the moment than scoring runs, which is concerning.
 
Thunderbolt14 said:
Babar is generally a gun fielder. However, slip fielding is a specialist’s job, and he’s not as good doing that.

Babar is much better at stopping in the inner ring, taking outfield catches, and has a gun arm that often hits the stumps or comes close enough. Just day before yesterday, he stopped the ball, recovered quickly, and threw the ball to Rizwan who in turn was able to effect a brilliant runout.

Virat is also not as bad as people say, but his butterfingers moments have been in the inner ring and outfield which is a bigger sin than dropped slip catches.

As far as Babar goes, I’m not sure who else is a better slip fielder in the team, would be worth giving Imran Butt a go. The only other pair of safe hands in the slips that we had was Asad Shafiq.
Click to expand...

Babar has never been a gun fielder. Average at best.
 
Kohli does take some blinders every now and then but he isn’t a safe fielder. Also he’s getting worse by the day. Babar is an ok fielder but more dependable than Kohli.
 
Babar Azam is not a natural slip fielder, it's a specialist position and unfortunately Pakistan haven't been able to find a replacement for Younis in slips.
 
Kohli is a brilliant out fielder but a shocking catcher. I still remember the dolly he dropped in the LO series against Australia recently. He does take some blinders though from time to time. But if the ball is in the air and Virat is under it as a bowler I wouldn't be confident.

Haven't watched Babar enough to draw any parallels.
 
To be a good catcher in the slips, you have to want the ball to come to you.
 
Kohli is spectacular but not safe
Babar is ordinary fielder but stil he won't drop as many as kohli but OTOH he will never take some outstanding catches like kohli.
 
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Thunderbolt14 said:
Babar is generally a gun fielder. However, slip fielding is a specialist’s job, and he’s not as good doing that.

Babar is much better at stopping in the inner ring, taking outfield catches, and has a gun arm that often hits the stumps or comes close enough. Just day before yesterday, he stopped the ball, recovered quickly, and threw the ball to Rizwan who in turn was able to effect a brilliant runout.

Virat is also not as bad as people say, but his butterfingers moments have been in the inner ring and outfield which is a bigger sin than dropped slip catches.

As far as Babar goes, I’m not sure who else is a better slip fielder in the team, would be worth giving Imran Butt a go. The only other pair of safe hands in the slips that we had was Asad Shafiq.
Click to expand...

U need to revisit the definition of gun fielder. Babar is not one. Those are reserved for likes of ABD , jadeja those ones
 
We hear from OP that Babar has regressed, but associating with other players and trying to justify shows desperation .. lol
 
Thunderbolt14 said:
Babar is generally a gun fielder. However, slip fielding is a specialist’s job, and he’s not as good doing that.

Babar is much better at stopping in the inner ring, taking outfield catches, and has a gun arm that often hits the stumps or comes close enough. Just day before yesterday, he stopped the ball, recovered quickly, and threw the ball to Rizwan who in turn was able to effect a brilliant runout.

Virat is also not as bad as people say, but his butterfingers moments have been in the inner ring and outfield which is a bigger sin than dropped slip catches.

As far as Babar goes, I’m not sure who else is a better slip fielder in the team, would be worth giving Imran Butt a go. The only other pair of safe hands in the slips that we had was Asad Shafiq.
Click to expand...
Babar is not a gun fielder. He is a safe fielder. Rizwan/Shadab are gun fielders.
 
Mamoon said:
:91:

I love how you have grouped them together. If someone is new to cricket, he/she would think that they are at a comparable level as far as batting is concerned.
Click to expand...

Well, if we normally distribute the 'batting level' of all current players, despite Kohli being superior, Babar would likely be close to him (Kohli and Smith are likely 3 standard deviations from the mean, and Williamson, Root and Babar would be 2). Relative to every other batsman, Babar is close to Kohli.
 
What is Babar trying to do? Catch a break from his constant comparisons with Kohli????
 
Mamoon said:
:91:

I love how you have grouped them together. If someone is new to cricket, he/she would think that they are at a comparable level as far as batting is concerned.
Click to expand...

Start getting used to this reality also
 
Babar has dropped his third slip catch of the Zimbabwe tour, just about the easiest possible catch one could ask for. Getting ridiculous now.
 
Lazy effort from Babar today.

Such a simple catch, good height, yet he somehow managed to drop it.
 
Just not a good tour for Babar. He's looked a bit out of sorts. He's look his usual best in a few innings but he's been pretty scratchy otherwise both batting and in the field.
 
Both are not good fielders kholi is better ground fielder but drop on average more than babar that per match ground fielding means nothing if you cant catch simple catches.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Poor and potentially costly drop of Buttler at 1st slip, just a few overs after he pocketed the vital wicket of Root at 2nd slip.
 
Kohli has never been an elite fielder. However his catching has become terrible alongside his batting in last 2 years. Basically a specialist captain now.
 
Actually I thought Babar was excellent in the covers yesterday.
Best I've seen him field. He should just stay from the slips
 
It was a basic slip catch. As easy as they can get for Kohli
 
IMMY69 said:
Actually I thought Babar was excellent in the covers yesterday.
Best I've seen him field. He should just stay from the slips
Click to expand...
Yes I agree Babar was very good along with Fawad and Imran was excellent in slip too.
 
TV pics showing Kohli still thinking about the drop

hMiybcamSsmrgw4jonzw_image%20%282%29.jpg


<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe src="https://streamable.com/e/vpm3mp" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="100%" allowfullscreen style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;"></iframe></div>
 
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Kohli has become a true bottler in last few years. Dropping catches and missing out on runs when matters has become a norm for him.
 
IMMY69 said:
Actually I thought Babar was excellent in the covers yesterday.
Best I've seen him field. He should just stay from the slips
Click to expand...

Absolutely he was pretty good. I think he stands in slips as even in that position he is one of the better ones compared to the rest we have.
 
Even though Virat Kohli extended his century drought in the 3rd Test against South Africa at Cape Town's Newlands, the talismanic batter of the Team India side ended up rewriting history by achieving a major milestone in the longest and oldest format of the game on Wednesday. Kohli completed the crucial dismissal of South Africa's Temba Bavuma to achieve a unique century in Test cricket on Day 2 of the series decider at Cape Town.

For the record, Kohli's sharp catch of South African batter Bavuma was his 100th catch in Test cricket. The Indian Test skipper has joined legendary cricketers Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar in an elite list on Wednesday. Batting icon Dravid, who is the head coach of the Kohli-led side has taken the most number of catches in Test cricket.

Dravid has pouched 210 catches in 164 Test matches for the Asian giants. Following Dravid in the elite list is Test specialist VVS Laxman, who plucked 135 catches from 134 matches. Master Blaster Tendulkar grabbed 115 catches in 200 Test matches he played for India. Legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar was safe as houses on 108 occasions in 125 Test appearances for the Team India side.

Former Indian skipper Mohammed Azharuddin, who used to be a gun fielder in his playing career, took 105 catches from 99 matches. Skipper Kohli completed a century of catches in his 99th Test appearance on Wednesday. Kohli's former deputy Ajinkya Rahane is next in line to join the elite list. Rahane has taken 99 catches from 82 Test matches.

Earlier, Kohli had surpassed Dravid in an exclusive list by scoring his 2nd slowest half-century on Day 1 of the 3rd Test match. Kohli had become the second-highest run-getter for India in South Africa. The Indian skipper is only behind Tendulkar, who had amassed 1161 runs for the Asian giants in South Africa from 1992 to 2011.

https://www.timesnownews.com/sports...omplete-unique-century-in-test-cricket/848798
 
MenInG said:
Even though Virat Kohli extended his century drought in the 3rd Test against South Africa at Cape Town's Newlands, the talismanic batter of the Team India side ended up rewriting history by achieving a major milestone in the longest and oldest format of the game on Wednesday. Kohli completed the crucial dismissal of South Africa's Temba Bavuma to achieve a unique century in Test cricket on Day 2 of the series decider at Cape Town.

For the record, Kohli's sharp catch of South African batter Bavuma was his 100th catch in Test cricket. The Indian Test skipper has joined legendary cricketers Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar in an elite list on Wednesday. Batting icon Dravid, who is the head coach of the Kohli-led side has taken the most number of catches in Test cricket.

Dravid has pouched 210 catches in 164 Test matches for the Asian giants. Following Dravid in the elite list is Test specialist VVS Laxman, who plucked 135 catches from 134 matches. Master Blaster Tendulkar grabbed 115 catches in 200 Test matches he played for India. Legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar was safe as houses on 108 occasions in 125 Test appearances for the Team India side.

Former Indian skipper Mohammed Azharuddin, who used to be a gun fielder in his playing career, took 105 catches from 99 matches. Skipper Kohli completed a century of catches in his 99th Test appearance on Wednesday. Kohli's former deputy Ajinkya Rahane is next in line to join the elite list. Rahane has taken 99 catches from 82 Test matches.

Earlier, Kohli had surpassed Dravid in an exclusive list by scoring his 2nd slowest half-century on Day 1 of the 3rd Test match. Kohli had become the second-highest run-getter for India in South Africa. The Indian skipper is only behind Tendulkar, who had amassed 1161 runs for the Asian giants in South Africa from 1992 to 2011.

https://www.timesnownews.com/sports...omplete-unique-century-in-test-cricket/848798
Click to expand...

The 100th catch

<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.426%;"><iframe src="https://streamable.com/e/4jv83e" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="100%" allowfullscreen style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;"></iframe></div>
 
"Babar Azam No.2" In Tests, Says Shane Watson; Picks This Indian As No. 1 BatterIn ICC rankings, Babar Azam is the No. 1 batter in ODIs and T20Is while he is No.3 in Tests but Shane Watson has picked Virat Kohli as the best Test batter.NDTV Sports DeskUpdated: August 21, 2022 10:22 AM ISTRead Time:2 min

With Babar Azam's continuous rise in world cricket, many experts have labelled the Pakistan cricket team captain as the finest batter on current form. In ICC rankings, Babar is the No. 1 batter in ODIs and T20Is while he is No.3 in Tests. He is the only batter to be among the top-three in all three formats. He is also being compared with former India captain Virat Kohli. However, Shane Watson, in conversation with Isa Guha on the ICC Review, picked Kohli as the best Test batter.

Incidentally, in the official ICC rankings, Kohli is currently not even among the top-10 in Tests.

"Test match cricket, I am always going to say Virat Kohli. His ability to just maintain that range, he continues to maintain the range in all formats. He has got such high intensity every time he goes out there to play for India. So, in Test cricket, yes Virat Kohli (in Test cricket)," Watson said.

"One thing with Steve Smith is that he has started to come off a little bit. It looks like Steve Smith is not putting as much pressure on the bowlers as he did when he was at his absolute best. So, for me, Steve sort of dropped down on that list a little bit. Babar Azam is now playing just incredibly well. We have to see how he has adapted his game to Test cricket as well. So, Babar Azam would probably be No.2 at the moment. Kane Williamson, he has had a few elbow issues, he knows his game inside out. He can put pressure on bowlers in any conditions. Joe Root - he has had bit of time along the lines of Steve Smith."

Kohli has so far played 102 Tests scoring 8074 runs at an average of 49.53 while Babar has played 42 Tests scoring 3122 runs at an average of 47.30.

NDTV
 
2 drops by Babar Azam today - what is happening?
 
Babar drops Kane in the final. Huge miss by the captain, Kane will make us pay
 
Excellent take by Babar Azam

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Virat Kohli might just have knocked Pakistan out of another World Cup <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/T20WorldCup?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#T20WorldCup</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/INDvSA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#INDvSA</a> <a href="https://t.co/WUwpitrpkh">pic.twitter.com/WUwpitrpkh</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/SajSadiqCricket/status/1586717336576397313?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 30, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Dropped a sitter today against South Africa did Kohli and then was involved in a mix-up with Pandya for another chance.
 
Absolute sitter dropped by Babar.

I mean a kid in an under 7s match would have been disappointed to drop that one.
 
Kohli dropped another in the 2nd Australia innings

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Kohli searching treasure after dropping. Kohli has dropped 7 or 8 catches in that position in 2 tests. That is not even the most bizarre thing. Bizarre thing is him being stationed still in the slips.
 
jnaveen1980 said:
Kohli searching treasure after dropping. Kohli has dropped 7 or 8 catches in that position in 2 tests. That is not even the most bizarre thing. Bizarre thing is him being stationed still in the slips.
Click to expand...

To his credit he did take a good one to dismiss Usman Khawaja

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Edged & taken! <a href="https://twitter.com/ashwinravi99?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ashwinravi99</a> strikes in his first over &#55357;&#56396; &#55357;&#56396;<br><br>Virat Kohli takes the catch &#55357;&#56397; &#55357;&#56397;<br><br>Australia lose Usman Khawaja.<br><br>Follow the match ▶️ <a href="https://t.co/SwTGoyHfZx">https://t.co/SwTGoyHfZx</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TeamIndia?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TeamIndia</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/INDvAUS?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#INDvAUS</a> <a href="https://t.co/gAUfWqe4YR">pic.twitter.com/gAUfWqe4YR</a></p>— BCCI (@BCCI) <a href="https://twitter.com/BCCI/status/1624301189071536129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Kohli is not a good slip catcher. It’s a catch if it comes directly to his hands otherwise a slight movement and he’ll drop it most likely.
 
Kohli has always been a poor catcher and average fielder. I've always wondered about commentators when they talk about him being an "excellent fielder". You wonder what they watch. Just because he's energetic and enthusiastic doesn't make him a good fielder. What he is though, is a very good outfielder in white ball cricket.
 
pillionrider said:
Kohli has always been a poor catcher and average fielder. I've always wondered about commentators when they talk about him being an "excellent fielder". You wonder what they watch. Just because he's energetic and enthusiastic doesn't make him a good fielder. What he is though, is a very good outfielder in white ball cricket.
Click to expand...


Occasionally he does some acrobatic dive. Everything that he occasionally pulls off is infront of the wicket not behind the wicket. His drop of Baz is mother of all drops. He dropped Baz at 9. He ended up making 323.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Making things happen with the ball ft. <a href="https://twitter.com/RCBTweets?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RCBTweets</a> &#55357;&#56835;<br><br>Two fine catches from <a href="https://twitter.com/imVkohli?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@imVkohli</a> &#55357;&#56396;&#55356;&#57339;&#55357;&#56396;&#55356;&#57339;<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TATAIPL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TATAIPL</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LSGvRCB?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LSGvRCB</a> <a href="https://t.co/eHhpxaMXYV">pic.twitter.com/eHhpxaMXYV</a></p>— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) <a href="https://twitter.com/IPL/status/1653081505940508677?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 1, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Babar missed a dolly now - we can't be doing this in a World Cup year!
 
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