DUBAI: Former Indian captain Virat Kohli heaped praises on the top-ranked white ball batter Babar Azam and coined him the best batter in the world currently across all three formats of the game.

Virat, while featuring in the Star Sports’ Heart to Heart episode, lauded the Pakistani skipper Babar and recalled his first conversation with the top-ranked batter in limited overs cricket.

“The first talk with Babar Azam was after the 2019 World Cup, we sat down and talked a lot, he had a lot of respect that hasn’t changed even after doing so well in world cricket,” Virat stated.

The former Indian captain then termed Babar a ‘down-to-earth character’ and predicted the latter to succeed as a player before claiming to enjoy his batting.

“He is so down to earth character, he will go long way as a player. He is probably the top batsman right now across all formats. I have enjoyed watching him bat,” Virat concluded.

Earlier the two batters met on the sidelines of the teams’ training sessions for the upcoming Asia Cup 2022 and had a overwhelming moment.

Furthermore, the two cricketers displayed mutual respect in July this year when Babar came out in support of Virat with a motivating tweet, “This too shall pass. Stay strong” and received an overwhelming response from the cricket fans.

A number of speculations also began to arise about whether the Indian batter will respond to the Babar’s message. Virat, however, proved the speculations wrong and responded to Babar’s supportive tweet for him in a challenging phase of his career, while also wishing latter the luck.

“Thank you. Keep shining and rising. Wish you all the best,” Virat replied to Babar on his tweet.

It is pertinent to mention here that the 15th edition of the Asia Cup will embark on August 27 with the hosts Sri Lanka taking on Afghanistan in the curtain raiser. The most anticipated clash of the tournament between India and Pakistan, however, is scheduled for August 28.

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