NEW DELHI: Pakistani cricketer Azam Khan has compared Babar Azam’s impact on Pakistan cricket to that of Virat Kohli on Indian cricket, highlighting how Babar changed Pakistan’s image from a team known mainly for its fast bowlers to a team renowned for its batting excellence – despite not having the kind of support that Kohli enjoyed during his prime. I will rise.Speaking on the Crickwick podcast, Azam Khan praised Babar for changing the narrative of Pakistan cricket.“Pakistani cricket was known for its fast bowling. But this guy made him 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 environment in which the two hitters developed.“There was someone around Virat Kohli who was a legend at that time. In the era in which he started playing, he had VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul DravidVirender Sehwag and MS Dhoni. So many big hitters. But who was there with Babar? There was no one,” Azam added.Former Pakistan athlete Mohsin Khan also weighed in on the debate, acknowledging Babar’s brilliance but stressing the need for stronger support around him.“Beaver is a good hitter,” Mosin said. “But he needs a group of quality players around him to support him. Look at Virat Kohli – he had Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and K.L. Rahul. In ODIs, he had Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. A great player becomes even greater when surrounded by other strong players.”Mohsin further expressed concern that Babar and Mohammad Rizwan were taking on a heavy workload.“When you’re constantly under pressure that you have to score centuries every time you go out, they’re human too – so sometimes you can’t play the game the team wants you to play,” he said.Reflecting on the rich history of batting in Pakistan, Mohsin added, “In our time there was Majeed Khan, Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbas and later on, Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan. Teams are built on numbers — you need a group of players of more or less the same quality. Now there is a great gulf between Babar and the rest.’
