Pakistan men’s cricket team captain in limited overs, Babar Azam has revealed that he attempts to learn from Indian batting stalwart, Virat Kohli, whenever they meet on the field. Babar and Kohli are regarded as two of the best batters in the white-ball format of their generation, with the latter having the record for the most ODI centuries.
Speaking ahead of the T20 World Cup where India will square off against Pakistan, Babar said he was happy with the comparison.
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“When you are being compared to someone, it gives you happiness. I have tried to learn from him whenever I met him,” Babar said on the show ‘Showtime with Ramiz Raja’.
Will have plans against Virat: Babar
Kohli has an exceptional record against Pakistan, having scored 488 runs in 10 games with an excellent average of 81.33. The two teams will meet on June 9 in New York with Babar revealing that the Men-in-Green will have plans against the former Indian captain.
“As a team, you always plan against different teams according to their strengths. We don’t plan anything against only one player,” said Babar.
“We plan for all 11 players. We don’t know much about the conditions in New York and we will plan accordingly. He [Virat Kohli] is one of the best players and we will plan against him as well,” he added.
In the 2022 T20 WC, both India and Pakistan were in the same group in the Super 10. The two Asian giants locked horns at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Melbourne where Kohli’s unbeaten 82 off 49 balls, propelled Rohit Sharma-led Indian team to a memorable four-wicket win, on the last ball of the contest.
The Indian team will be arriving at the World Cup, straight after the conclusion of the Indian Premier League (IPL) while the Pakistan outfit will have played a match T20I series against Ireland.
India T20 WC squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashashvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan
Pakistan T20 WC squad: To be announced
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