No, Saeed Ajmal! You Can’t Compare Babar Azam And Mohammad Rizwan To Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli's death overs strike rate outshines Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. [Source: @1Bst2 & @SajSadiqCricket/X]

In his latest interview with Sportstar, former Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal compared Pakistani batters Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan to former India captain Virat Kohli twice. Referring to India backing Kohli when he was in a rut, Ajmal expects a similar treatment for Pakistan’s solitary “star”, i.e., Azam.

"Look at the way India backed Virat Kohli. His bad patch continued for long, but no one forced him to quit and not many wanted him to leave, while Babar [Azam], who is undoubtedly one of the biggest stars of Pakistan cricket, is going through a lull, everyone is busy pulling him down,” Ajmal said.

For once, when asked about the constant chopping and changing of players and support staff in Pakistan cricket, Ajmal even cited the example of Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar not scoring a century in every match.

Babar Azam Can Be Compared To Virat Kohli On This Condition

In all honesty, Ajmal’s aforementioned quote isn’t justified because neither Azam nor Rizwan has achieved all that Kohli has achieved in all forms of cricket. The only reason why it can be justified is how Azam is considered as Pakistan’s biggest modern-day cricketer – akin Kohli in India.

Having said that, this comparison remains incomplete without the condition that there’s a massive difference between the standard of cricket in India and Pakistan at the moment. Just because two players are the best in their respective country, it doesn’t mean they’re at par with each other globally.

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In T20Is, #RizBar Cause More Harm Than Good To Pakistan

Although Azam and Rizwan don’t stand a chance against Kohli in any format, the below mentioned numbers are restricted to T20Is because Ajmal questioned the PCB for dropping Azam and Rizwan from Pakistan’s T20I squad for the imminent tour of New Zealand.

“Their stats are as good as anyone, but the only difference is - they don’t bat aggressively, but they still score runs. Our guys have suddenly realised that in international cricket, everyone plays aggressively. Come on, what aggression are we talking about? If they are your proven matchwinners, you don’t need aggression. Even legends like Virat often pace their innings slowly before attacking, that’s his style. We need to allow our players to play their natural game, and ensure that they are mentally in the right space,” Ajmal added.

On paper, Azam and Rizwan are the second- and seventh-highest T20I run-scorers respectively. On the same paper, having two top achievers in terms of run-scoring in a top-order should be a blessing for any team.

However, outside of the paper and, more importantly, on the field, modern-day T20I batting excels on strike rate. If scored at a mediocre strike rate, even gargantuan number of runs have it in them to be worthless in the shortest format nowadays.

And this is exactly where Pakistan have suffered in T20Is. This is exactly why having two anchor batters such as Azam and Rizwan in a top-order causes more harm than good. This is exactly where the decision to drop Azam and Rizwan at the same time should be celebrated.

Unlike Ajmal, Stats Do The Justice

For starters, Azam and Rizwan are the only two batters with a strike rate of less than 130 among the top 13 highest run-scorers in T20Is. In such a situation, respective average of 39.83 and 47.41 doesn’t count for much.

Unless you’re talented enough to cover up at your own risk, there’s nothing wrong in starting slowly in T20Is. Like Ajmal said, Kohli used to start slow before attacking. But a strike rate of 137.04 confirms that he attacked at some stage. Azam and Rizwan, on the contrary, strike at <130 in both T20Is and T20s.

The below mentioned table clarifies how well Kohli was able to convert his "slow starts" into impact-generating knocks. As a matter of fact, among batters with at least 500 T20I runs in the death overs, Kohli's strike rate is the third-best (better than the likes of Andre Russell, David Miller, Kieron Pollard and MS Dhoni).

In the general run of things, the top two T20I run-scorers of all Full Member nations are top-order batters. In this list, Azam and Rizwan's combined strike rate of 128.59 is the second-worst. As a duo, 7,398 runs (second-highest) at an average of 45.35 (second-best) and with the above-mentioned strike rate has hurt Pakistan. What hurts all the more, however, is former Pakistani cricketers going into raptures about them.

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