KARACHI: Former West Indian cricketer and commentator Ian Bishop claimed that Babar Azam has almost surpassed Indian star batter, Virat Kohli, as ‘the ultimate uber fifty-over batter’.
Bishop praised Pakistan national team skipper for his consistent performance and record-breaking form in the limited-over cricket as he currently leads both ODI and T20I batters’ rankings.
“Babar Azam is on the road to greatness,(…)in the white-ball cricket and certainly in fifty overs,” claimed Bishop during a conversation with Cricwick.com.
Bishop further went on to compare Babar’s brilliance in the ODIs with Indian Ex-captain and eminent batter Kohli, while claiming that Pakistan’s captain has nearly overtaken the latter’s greatness in the ODI cricket.
“His average, as we speak now, (is) on the cusp on 60 with 17 ODI hundreds. He has almost overtaken his next-door neighbor, the great Virat Kohli, in terms of the ultimate uber 50-over batter,” he declared.
Former West Indies bowler also opined on Babar’s performance in Test cricket and hoped that he would soon excel himself in the longer format as well.
“His Test cricket is a work in progress. I’m surprised he hasn’t taken to Test cricket numbers a lot earlier. He’s starting to get better at it. Technically, he’s superb”, said Bishop.
“In future, I’m hoping he will be mentioned in the same breath in Test cricket as the top 3-4 players,” he concluded.
Bishop had also included Babar Azam in his recently announced all-time Pakistan XI.
It is pertinent to mention here that the top-ranked ODI batter Babar was named as the ICC ODI Men’s player of the year 2021 following his incredible run in the limited-overs format. He also became the first batter to score three consecutive ODI centuries twice.
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