Ramiz Raja believes Babar Azam has the potential to go past Virat Kohli
Former Pakistan batsman Ramiz Raja believes that Babar Azam has the potential to go past Indian captain Virat Kohli, provided some conditions are fulfilled by the Pakistani T20 skipper. Both batsmen have been compared to one another over the past few years, considering their tremendous performances for their respective sides in every format of the game.
The 'Babar Azam vs Virat Kohli' debate has been the focal point of many cricketing discussions. Both these batsmen form the backbone of their respective national sides in both white-ball as well as red-ball cricket. While Kohli has endured and blossomed under the additional responsibility of captaincy, Azam is relatively new to leadership and has a lot to prove on that front.
Renowned commentator Raja also joined the debate and his choice didn't come as a surprise. According to him, Azam has the potential to surpass Kohli if he plays with a lot more freedom and without any fear of losing.
Raja believes that to maintain top form at the highest level, Azam will have to adopt a free-flowing style where his mind is away from the pressures of winning or losing a game. If he can attain that, the sky will be the limit for the Pakistan batsman.
Raja was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan:
“For Babar Azam, [the] sky is the limit. Until and unless he gets the environment which is encouraging and engaging, he won’t be able to live up to his potential. He has the potential to even beat Virat Kohli but he needs to free up [his mind] and not think about losing. As soon as he does that and thinks about scoring runs and winning, he will remain a great player for a very long time.”
Both batsmen have scored heavily for their respective teams. However, Azam remains the only player in world cricket to feature in the top five rankings in all three formats of the game. Recently, former Australian spinner Brad Hogg also took on the 'Kohli vs Azam' debate but remained neutral in his response, hoping for a healthy competition between the two in the coming years.
Azam's figures of 6680 international runs in 138 games for Pakistan are way behind Kohli's 21,901 international runs in 415 games. However, as Azam is expected to have a much longer stint left with the national team, he could well overtake Kohli as a modern-day great.