Babar Azam Still Not Better Than Virat Kohli: Shahid Afridi Says Pakistan Captain Is Not A Match-Winner Yet

While calling Babar Azam a world class player, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi also said that he still has to work hard to come in the same league as Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers

Source: Twitter

Babar Azam is a massively popular cricketer in his country for he is seen as someone who may finish as potentially the greatest batter from Pakistan. However, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi feels Babar is still a work in progress as far as his status as GOAT is concerned. Afridi also said that Babar, despite his world class status, is still not in the same league of match-winners like Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. One of the major reasons is that Babar is still unable to win as many games for Pakistan as Kohli and De Villiers did when they were at the top of their game. 

"No doubt, Babar is the number one player in the world, and he is the pride of the Pakistan cricket team. However, one thing that stops him from being named along with the likes of AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli is finishing games. Babar has not yet proved himself as a match-winner," Afridi told a local Pakistani TV channel.

Not to forget, Babar won two big ICC awards at the end of 2022 calendar. He swept two major ICC awards in 2022, winning the ICC Men's ODI Player of the Year Award as well as the ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year Award. He was also named the captain of the ICC ODI Team of the Year.

Imam-ul-Haq "Bowlers aren't scared of Babar Azam he doesn't dominate them like Kohli and he knows that too" pic.twitter.com/gm4rpRtgvE

— Ghumman (@emclub77) February 28, 2023

However, Babar recently told ICC in an interview that individual awards do not matter a lot to him. It is the big titles which he is eyeing. After taking Pakistan to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup 2021, and final of the same tournament in 2022 edition, Babar is not aiming to finally lift an ICC trophy in 2023 by winning the ODI World Cup. 

"The ambition is to be a part of World Cup team and to win the tournament. The World Cup is coming up and my ambition is to perform well so that we can win it. You see lot of things individually too, but my goal right now is to win the World Cup. This year we have lot of white ball cricket because of the World Cup...you need to take things step by step," said Babar.