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Veteran Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed all the comparisons made between India’s Virat Kohli and Pakistan’s Babar Azam. The 38-year-old feels the two cricketers from neighboring countries should not be mentioned in the same context. Ashwin heaped praise on Babar Azam, but also mentioned that Virat Kohli is a player of a different caliber, and his achievements are on different levels. Ashwin also added that only English batter Joe Root matches Kohli’s level in Test cricket.
Notably, Babar Azam was recently dropped from Pakistan squad for the remaining two Test matches along with Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah in the ongoing series against England. The right-hander isn’t having a great touch with the bat in recent times and hasn’t scored a fifty in the last 18 Test innings. However, his teammate Fakhar Zaman also shared a tweet in Babar Azam’s favour. In his tweet, Fakhar mentioned that Babar should have been backed like the Indian team backed Virat Kohli during his lean form in 2021 and 2022.
Babar is an outstanding player, but Virat Kohli’s credentials are something else: R Ashwin
In a latest video on his YouTube channel Ravichandran Ashwin spoke on comparisons between Virat Kohli and Babar Azam in international cricket. The Indian spinner said that both are great players, but Kohli has proved himself as a big match player on many occasions. Ashwin also mentioned Joe Root’s name, stating that the English batter has matched Kohli’s excellence in the longest format of the game.
“I am really sorry, I rate Babar Azam. He is an outstanding player, but Virat Kohli’s credentials are something else. Across terrains, across times, across pressure situations, the kind of heists he has done, no one has come close to doing so in the world of cricket. As far as I know, at this point, if any one comes close, it is Joe Root in Test cricket,” Ashwin was quoted saying by India.com.
