Babar Azam has recently gone through a long dry spell of not registering a century and this has brought up fresh discussions on whether Babar is affected by the constant comparisons with Indian batting genius Virat Kohli. Such comparisons have led to more pressure being unnecessarily heaped on the star batter, Ahmed Shehzad, who has been unable to get his rhythm and confidence going on the field, says former Pakistan opener Ahmed Shehzad.
Virat Kohli Comparisons Put Extra Pressure on Babar
Shehzad, who has previously criticized Babar in terms of leadership and consistency, dealt with how the comparisons between players may ruin young talent.
When all was still good, you were running campaigns of player comparison. When the performances are not forthcoming you are saying do not compare two players. Why not? The comparison of Virat Kohli is impossible with anyone in the world. He is a legend of this generation, a role model,” said Shehzad.
He also said, you can not compare him to MS Dhoni as well. Kohli is a great batter, cricketer and an athlete and in that regard, Dhoni cannot compete. No one should be compared with anyone because it’s unfair and it adds extra pressure, which we are now seeing on Babar Azam.”
Rise of Babar Azam and the Virat Kohli Narrative
Between June 2019 and August 2023 Babar was talisman in Pakistan batting and combined finesse with reliability. His batting in all formats naturally made him be compared to Virat Kohli, who was having a rare off-period in his glorious career. The comparisons became the subject of cricketing talk soon.
Part of the fan base and media of Pakistan even said that Babar had surpassed the Indian great. The praise was quite flattering, but it also preconditioned the subsequent criticism whenever performances were falling, which Kohli himself had experienced in his downturns.
Lean Patch Extends for the Pakistan Captain
At present Babar is in the firing line due to the fact that he has not scored a century in 72 straight international innings in Tests, ODIs, or T20Is. The extended decline has attracted sharp criticism by the fans who used to hail him as the next big hope of Pakistan batting future.
The last Babar century was in 2023 Asia Cup vs Nepal. Since then he has hit 50 18 times in 64 innings but has averaged only 31.45. This week he scored 47 0 and 9 in an absurd 1-2 ODI series loss to the West Indies.
Will Babar Bounce Back Without Comparisons?
Whereas Shehzad feels that the pressure has been aggravated by the comparison with Kohli, Babar is still the best batting asset of Pakistan. The next challenge will be to get back into his best form without the weight of unfair expectations of fans and media accounts.
The wish of the fans of Pakistan is straightforward, that Babar can play with the freedom he once enjoyed which initially made him a household name around the world.
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