ICC World Cup 2019 | Babar Azam is the Virat Kohli of Pakistan, says Michael Clarke
Former Australia captain Michael Clarke has labeled Babar Azam as the ‘Virat Kohli of Pakistan’ ahead of the start of the upcoming ICC World Cup 2019 which will be played in England. Azam recently broke Kohli’s record and became the fastest batsman to reach 1,000 T20I runs (26 innings).
Since making his debut for Pakistan in May 2015 against Zimbabwe, Babar Azam has truly transformed into one of the best limited-overs batsmen in the world in the last couple of year. Azam, who captained Pakistan at the 2012 ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup, is currently the top-ranked T20I batsman in the world.
Azam’s exploits in One-dayers have earned him the seventh spot in the ICC rankings and he also reached 1,000 ODI runs in 21 innings, a record he shared with the likes of West Indies great Viv Richards and England’s Kevin Pietersen, until his Pakistan team mate Fakhar Zaman broke it last year.
However, former Australia captain who led his side to the World Cup in the 2015 edition of the tournament, has compared Azam to Indian skipper - Virat Kohli.
“Babar Azam is real class no doubt about that. For me, he’s the Virat Kohli of Pakistan’s line-up. If Pakistan want to qualify for the semi-finals or final, a lot will depend on his young shoulders,” Clarke said during a commentary stint.
Clarke said so after Babar Azam slammed an impressive 112 off 108 deliveries in Pakistan’s first warm-up game against Afghanistan on Friday. Earlier, Azam broke Kohli’s record and became the fastest batsman to reach 1,000 T20I runs in just 26 innings.