Babar Azam vs Virat Kohli: A battle between the modern-day greats of Pakistan and India
The long-standing cricket rivalry between India and Pakistan often steals the limelight with the heated on and off-field encounters. Amidst this, a peculiar debate has often surfaced in the minds of fans and pundits alike – ‘Babar Azam vs Virat Kohli’.
While Virat stands as one of the modern-day greats, Babar often marks himself in the same pursuit with his stellar knocks. Though it has been analyzed by various experts that there is no point in making such comparisons, as Virat stands way ahead of Pakistan International, a lot of discussion still goes on comparing the caliber of both of these batters.
Babar Azam vs Virat Kohli records: Who leads the pack in International cricket?
If we delve deep into the careers of both Virat and Babar, the former Indian captain stands way ahead of his counterpart. With a flurry of records and trophies to his name, Virat has won the ICC ODI World Cup 2023, the ICC Champions Trophy 2013, as well as the ICC ODI World Cup 2024.
Apart from these prolific ICC tournament trophies, the Indian cricket dynamo has various ICC personal awards to his name as well, the most esteemed of which is the ICC Cricketer of the decade (2011-2020).
Talking about Babar, the former Pakistan skipper has only one major ICC trophy to his name, which is the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, which his side won after defeating India in the pinnacle showdown at the Oval. Shedding light on his personal achievements, he has won the ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year award two times in a row (2011-2022).
Babar Azam vs Virat Kohli stats: Who reigns supreme?
The most important part that provides flair to this highly sought-after debate between Babar and Virat is the comparison of their international gaming stats. It is worth noting that both of these cricketers came into the mainstream with their stunning performances in the U-19 World Cup.
Shedding light on the overall stats, Virat has played a total of 543 international games across all formats. Out of which, he has a mammoth number of 27,324 runs with 81 centuries and 141 half-centuries to his name, one of the premier reasons he is regarded as one of the best cricketers on the globe.
Babar, on the contrary, is way behind his competitor. He has scored 14,370 runs in 308 games across all formats. With 31 centuries and 99 and a half dozen, he stands quite below the esteemed Indian batter. Another addition to this record is the number of ducks. While Virat got dismissed 38 times without scoring a run, Babar went back to the dugout 19 times without scoring a run.
Taking a step ahead, let’s dig deeper into the format-wise stats of these two batting powerhouses.
Test
The toughest format of cricket, the highly decorated red-ball cricket, is the ultimate tester of a player. Virat possesses a remarkable record in his Test career and has been the catalyst of the Indian side over the initial years. By the time of writing this blog, Virat has appeared in 123 red-ball encounters, scoring 9230 runs with 30 centuries and 31 half-centuries.
Babar also has a good Test career so far. The Lahore-born has 4190 to his name in 57 Test games. With nine centuries and 29 fifties, the latter has a remarkable average of 44.10.
ODI
One of the favorite cricketing formats of Virat, he has achieved new heights in the One-Day Internationals with his finesse and batting masterclass. The 36-year-old is the fastest batter to reach 13000 ODI runs. Additionally, his remarkable run tally of 765 runs in the ODI World Cup 2023 made him the highest run scorer in a specific tournament.
The Delhi-born cricketer is the third-highest scorer in ODI cricket. With 13906 runs to his name in 295 50-over duels, he has 50 tonnes to his name, which is the highest by any player.
Babar, another prodigy of ODI cricket, is slowly but steadily moving up the ranks. The 30–30-year-old has featured in 123 games for his nation, scoring 5957 runs. Complimenting these runs, which came at an average of 56.73, he has 19 tonnes in his tally. It is worth noting that the right-handed batter completed the 5000 run mark in just 97 games, making him the fastest to reach this tally.
T20I
The shortest format of the game is often the hardest version. Virat, here also stands amongst the kingpins, but this is the only format where he lags behind Babar.
While Virat has 4188 runs in 125 games, Babar has 4223 runs to his account in 128 games, making him the second-highest scorer in T20Is, standing behind Rohit Sharma.
Though an intriguing fact about these stats is the number of half-centuries. While Virat has a total of 39 fifties, making him the highest half-dozen scorer of the 20-over game, Babar has 36. A point that makes the T20I career comparison of both the stalwarts is their batting average. While Virat has an esteemed average of 48.7,0, which is arguably the best in the world, Babar has an average of 39.84.
Babar Azam vs Virat Kohli: settling the debate
While many former cricketers have often termed this comparison as ‘baseless’, a thing that needs to be understood is that both Virat and Babar have a good amount of generational gap between them. By the time Babar made his debut, Virat had already played more than 150 international games.
Choosing between Virat and Babar is not about who is better, but applauding the tactical brilliance and masterclass that they bring to the game. While Virat’s aggressive approach and batting prowess have established his domination in world cricket, Babar’s calm demeanor blended with his solid technique make him a promising aspect for the future. While cricket excels in such rivalries and comparisons, it serves as a gentle reminder about the highly competitive nature of the game.
