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Virat Kohli and Babar Azam
Former Pakistan captain Zaheer Abbas lauded Indian captain Virat Kohli and current Pakistan skipper Babar Azam. The veteran reckoned that Kohli and Azam are the two premier modern-day batsmen in the world of cricket. In an interview with Cricket Pakistan, Abbas was questioned about his top three batsmen in the cricket world. The former stated that Virat Kohli and Babar Azam are considered two of the finest batsmen in world cricket, along with Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, and Joe Root.
Recently, Babar Azam broke Kohli's record to become the fastest batsman to score 2000 runs in T20 cricket. The batsman reached the milestone in just 52 matches. On the other hand, Indian skipper Virat Kohli took 56 innings to get there. Babar Azam also became the first Pakistan captain to win his first four Test matches as captain. The side defeated Zimbabwe 2-0 in the recently-concluded series.
Kohli and Azam are the only batsmen in the world whose batting styles are being copied: Zaheer Abbas
Babar Azam now leads Pakistan in all three formats of the game and is one of the mainstays in their batting. The 26-year-old has 2169 runs in 33 Tests, 3808 in 80 ODIs, and 2035 runs in 54 T20Is. Number two ODI batsman Virat Kohli, who made his international debut in 2008, has already surpassed the 10000-mark in ODIs and scored 12169 runs in 254 games. He has 7490 runs in 91 in the purest format of the game. Virat Kohli is the only batsman to average over 50 across formats. He also has 3159 runs in T20Is, which is the most by any batsman.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam is also the No. 1 ODI batsman, replacing Indian captain Virat Kohli. With 865 points, Babar Azam is the new number one ODI batsman. He is then followed by Indian batsmen Virat Kohli (857 points) and Rohit Sharma (825 points). Thus, he has become only the fourth Pakistani batsman to claim the No.1 spot in the 50-over format. Before him, Zaheer Abbas (1983-84), Javed Miandad (1988-89), and Mohammad Yousuf (2003) have been the number one ODI batsmen for Pakistan. Earlier, Babar had also captured the top position in the ICC T20 rankings. However, currently, he is ranked third after Dawid Malan and Aaron Finch. Babar Azam presently has 828 rating points to his name in the shortest format.