NEW DELHI: Pakistan cricketer Azam Khan has drawn a comparison between Babar Azam’s impact on Pakistan cricket and Virat Kohli’s influence on Indian cricket, highlighting how Babar transformed Pakistan’s image from a team known mainly for its fast bowlers to one celebrated for batting excellence — despite not having the same level of support that Kohli enjoyed during his rise.Speaking on the Crickwick podcast, Azam Khan praised Babar for changing the narrative around Pakistan cricket.“Pakistan cricket was famous because of fast bowling. But this guy made it famous because of his batting. There is a huge difference. Like what Virat Kohli did for India,” Azam said.He went on to point out the contrasting environments in which the two batters developed.“Virat Kohli had someone around him who was a legend at that time. In the era he started playing in, he had VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, and MS Dhoni. So many big batters. But who was there with Babar? There was no one,” Azam added.Former Pakistan batter Mohsin Khan also weighed in on the discussion, acknowledging Babar’s batting brilliance but stressing the need for stronger support around him.“Babar isn’t a bad batter,” Mohsin said. “But you need a clutch of quality players around him to support him. Look at Virat Kohli — in Tests, he had Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, and KL Rahul. In ODIs, he had Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. A great player is made even greater when surrounded by other strong players.”Mohsin further expressed concern over the heavy burden placed on Babar and Mohammad Rizwan to deliver consistently.“If you are always put under pressure that you have to score centuries every time you step out, they are humans too — hence at times you aren’t able to play the game the team requires you to play,” he said.Reflecting on Pakistan’s rich batting history, Mohsin added, “During our time, there was Majid Khan, Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbas, and later Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, and Younis Khan. Teams are built on numbers — you need a group of players who are more or less of the same quality. Right now, there is a big gulf between Babar and the rest.”
