Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif said it doesn’t make any sense to compare Babar Azam with legendary Virat Kohli amid T20 World Cup 2026. Azam was clean bowled for a seven-ball five after he attempted a slog sweep against Axar Patel but could not make any connection with the bat.
After Pakistan’s crushing loss, Kaif said Virat Kohli is like the Himalayas whereas Babar Azam is like a small mountain. Pakistan eventually was bowled out for 114 in the run-chase of 176 as they could challenge the potent Indian team.
Meanwhile, Babar Azam has been struggling with his form and even failed to deliver the goods in the Big Bash League.
Kaif recalled Virat Kohli’s masterclass knock at the MCG in the 2022 T20 World Cup when he got India over the line when they needed 28 runs off eight balls.
Mohammad Kaif said on his YouTube Channel, “Take the Melbourne innings, 28 runs off 8 balls at the death. Babar Azam would struggle to score even 16 off 8 in that situation. That is the difference. You may be happy with the numbers, but against whom were those runs scored, and at what moment? Did they change the game? From that perspective, Virat Kohli is like the Himalayas, sitting at the highest peak, while Babar Azam is on a much smaller mountain. That is the gap. Do not focus only on statistics. Match-winning innings matter more. Babar has had many opportunities. I have watched India vs Pakistan games for years, and apart from maybe one or two matches, I do not recall a truly dominant, defining innings from him against India.”
Kaif said a player should not be evaluated by the number of runs he has scored but by the impact he has had in winning matches.
“Do not judge players only by numbers. I do not evaluate a player just by seeing that he has scored 10,000 runs. How many Player of the Match awards have you won? How many impactful innings have you played when your team was in trouble? When Pakistan was losing, did your bat deliver? Against which opposition did you score those runs? In what situation? What was the impact of that innings? Did your team reach the semifinal or the final? Did your team win a trophy because of your batting? There is a reason why Virat Kohli sits at the very top and is regarded as such a great player.”
Kaif said, barring the 2021 T20 World Cup, where Pakistan won comprehensively by 10 wickets, he has not seen Babar Azam play a spectacular knock against India in big matches
“Yes, in the 2021 T20 World Cup in Dubai, he and Rizwan chased down the target. But even there, the total was not very high and the dew factor played a big role. They won comfortably, fine. But after that, I have not seen an innings from Babar against India where we were left saying, what a player, what a performance under pressure.”
India will next take on the Netherlands at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on Wednesday.
