As cricket fever reaches its peak, fans around the world are looking forward to the upcoming Pakistan-India blockbuster T20 World Cup match.
Geo News brought together cricketing legends from both countries for two high-octane exchanges on Saturday.
Veterans like Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mushtaq Ahmed and Sohail Tanveer where Pakistani panelists and host was Shahzad Iqbal, while Indian side had Sunil Gavaskar, Harbhajan Singh and Madan Lal on the Geo News/Aaj Tak ‘taakra’.
When the question was asked by Shahzad that who is the better player among both skippers Babar Azam and Virat Kohli in T20 cricket, all the panelists gave their opinions on it.
Madan Lal said: “Virat is way ahead than Babar as we all have witnessed his performance in all three formats of cricket and it has always been better than Babar.”
While Sunil said: “Virat has played a lot of cricket so he has a better record but the talenr Babar holds, gives him a better chance to him to get more runs in the future.”
He also added that Virat used to score 60, 70 runs but after when he scored centuries, he was also counted in great players. Babar has the potential as he is a very good batsman and easily scores 60, 70 runs but then get out after that. When he will score hundreds in Tests and One Days, he will be counted among number one batsmen. He has that potential.
“Virat Kohli is a great player and I think he is a legend in modern day cricket. Yes Babar need some time to get to that mark but but he has that game and definitely he can become one of cricketing greats of Pakistan like Inzamam-ul-Haq and Saeed Anwar,” said former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh.
Former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq said: “Babar Azam and Virat Kohli are both great players, but the way Babar is batting, I think he will break all records.”
He further added: “Kohli has given a lot of performances for his country, but Babar’s record is better than Kohli’s in terms of the amount of cricket he has played, Babar has yet to reach the heights of his career, Babar’s best game is yet to come. Babar’s hunger for runs makes him better than others. I have never seen such hunger for runs in any other batsman. Virat has a lot of aggression. If I compare the technique, Babar’s technique looks better than Kohli’s.”
“I agree with Inzi and Sunny (Inzamam and Sunil) that both are great players. Virat’s stats are very strong and Babar is still not there but I’ll agree with Inzi that Babar can be at number one forever,” said Pakistan’s great spinner Mushtaq Ahmed.
While Tanveer said that it took a long time for Kohli to become what he is and if we take a look at current form and performances of last three-four years of Babar, “He has that guts and he has all the skills to become world number one player and has become the number one.”
“By the time and experience he will become more confident and his abilities will also come to the fore,” he added.
It’s pertinent to mention here that the arch-rivals will be facing each other on Sunday 7pm PST at the Dubai International Stadium.
