Virat Kohli vs Babar Azam - comparing their stats in ICC ODI events ahead of IND vs PAK 2025 Champions Trophy match
The Virat Kohli vs Babar Azam debate is gaining steam again with India all set to take on Pakistan in the 2025 Champions Trophy Group A clash in Dubai on Sunday, February 23. Fans of the two star cricketers have often been at loggerheads over who is the better batter, especially in one-day cricket.
Both Kohli and Babar would be extremely keen to come with up a big score in the India vs Pakistan 2025 Champions Trophy clash. The Men in Blue batter was dismissed for 22 off 38 balls in India's opening match against Bangladesh in Dubai. On the other hand, Babar scored a painfully slow 64 off 90 in his team's 60-run loss to New Zealand in Karachi in the 2025 Champions Trophy opener.
Kohli has the experience of 298 ODIs in which he has amassed 13,985 runs at an average of 57.78 and a strike rate of 93.43, with 50 hundreds and 73 fifties. As for Babar, he has featured in 127 ODIs and has scored 6,083 runs at an average of 55.80 and a strike rate of 87.91, with 19 centuries and 35 half-centuries.
Ahead of the India vs Pakistan 2025 Champions Trophy match in Dubai on Sunday, we compare the stats of Kohli and Babar in ICC ODI events - the World Cup and the Champions Trophy.
Virat Kohli vs Babar Azam - Comparing their records in the ODI World Cup
Kohli has played 37 ODI World Cup matches across four editions, scoring 1,795 runs at an average of 59.83 and a strike rate of 88.20, with five hundreds and 12 half-centuries. The former India captain has been dismissed without scoring only once in the ICC event. His best of 117 came off 113 balls against New Zealand in the 2023 ODI World Cup semifinal at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Kohli played nine matches in the 2011 World Cup co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. He scored 282 runs at an average of 35.25 and a strike rate of 82.21, with one ton and one half-century. In the 2015 edition held in Australia and New Zealand, the right-hander totaled 305 runs in eight matches at an average of 50.83 and a strike rate of 81.55, with a solitary hundred.
In the 2019 World Cup held in England, Kohli failed to register a three-figure score. However, he notched up five fifties in nine innings, scoring 443 runs at an average of 55.37 and a strike rate of 94.05. Kohli was exceptional in the 2023 ODI World Cup played in India. He amassed a record tally of 765 runs in 11 innings, averaging 95.62 at a strike rate of 90.31, with three tons and six half-centuries.
Looking at Babar's record in the ODI World Cup, he has played 17 matches and has scored 794 runs at an average of 52.93 and a strike rate of 85.74, with one hundred and seven fifties. He is yet to be dismissed for a duck in a World Cup match. Babar's only ton in the ODI World Cup came against New Zealand in Birmingham in 2019, when scored 101* off 127 balls.
The former Pakistan captain has featured in two ODI World Cups. In eight innings in the 2019 edition, he scored 474 runs at an average of 67.71 and a strike rate of 87.77, with one hundred and three fifties. In the 2023 World Cup, Babar scored 320 runs in nine innings, averaging 40 at a strike rate of 82.90, with four fifties.
In the overall tally, Kohli has a better average as well as strike rate than Babar in the ODI World Cup.
Virat Kohli vs Babar Azam - Comparing their records in the Champions Trophy
Looking at his stats in the Champions Trophy, Kohli has played 14 matches (13 innings) and has scored 551 runs at an average of 78.71 and a strike rate of 90.18, with five half-centuries to his name. He has been dismissed without scoring on one occasion.
Kohli scored 95 runs in two innings in the 2009 edition. In the 2013 Champions Trophy, he scored 176 runs at an average of 58.66 and a strike rate of 95.65, with one fifty. Leading the team in 2017, the seasoned batter scored 258 runs in five innings (three not outs) at an average of 129 and a strike rate of 98.85, with three half centuries.
Babar is currently featuring in his second Champions Trophy. In six matches so far, he has scored 197 runs at an average of 49.25 and a strike rate of 73.50, with just one fifty. In the 2017 edition that Pakistan won, Babar contributed 133 runs in five innings (two not outs) at an average of 44.33 and a strike rate of 74.71. Again, Kohli has a better average and strike rate than Babar in the Champions Trophy.
Virat Kohli vs Babar Azam - Comparing their overall records in ICC ODI events
If we combine Kohli's stats in both the World Cup and the Champions Trophy, he has scored 2,346 runs in 51 matches (50 innings) at an average of 63.40 and a strike rate of 88.66, with five hundreds and 17 half-centuries. The 36-year-old star batter has been dismissed without scoring twice.
In contrast, Babar has batted 23 times in ICC ODI events and has scored 991 runs at an average of 52.15 and a strike rate of 82.99, with the aid of one hundred and eight fifties. He has never been out for a duck, but Babar's overall stats in ICC one-day events pale in comparison to those of Kohli.