Virat Kohli vs Babar Azam: ODI Stats Comparison Before Champions Trophy 2025

Virat Kohli and Babar Azam [Source: AP Photos]

The rivalry between India and Pakistan is considered the mother of all rivalries in the cricketing world. The two teams will face each other in the Champions Trophy 2025 on the 23rd of February. Before the start of the tournament, both teams are going through their final preparations.

While India are playing a three-match ODI series against England, Pakistan are playing an ODI Tri-series against England and South Africa. The presence of Virat Kohli and Babar Azam on the two sides adds more flavour to the rivalry between the two teams. Both Kohli and Azam enjoy the ODI format the most, and it is expected that the two stars will stand up for their respective teams and deliver during the tournament. 

Just as we write this article, Kohli and Babar Azam are battling it out for their respective teams on the field. In this article, we will consider the ODI stats of the two players and see who is ahead before the Champions Trophy 2025.

Virat Kohli vs Babar Azam: Overall Comparsion

So, that stats suggest that both the batters have been superbly consistent in this format of the game. However, Kohli is slightly ahead of Babar when it comes to consistency of scoring runs. On the other hand, when we consider the frequency of scoring fifty plus scores, then Babar takes the lead by the slightest of margins.

The balance of this face-off is in an equlibirium. To reach a conclusion, we will consider the ODI strike rate of the two batters. In case of the rate of scoring runs, Kohli goes ahead with a strike rate of 93.54 compared to Babar Azam's 88.06.

Virat Kohli vs Babar Azam: Home ODIs

When it comes to home ODIs, Babar Azam seems to lead Kohli by a big margin. The Pakistani star has scored 10 runs per innings more than Kohli. Even if we look at the time taken to score 50 plus runs, Babar Azam has done it more frequently than Kohli in home ODIs.

Virat Kohli vs Babar Azam: Away ODIs

When it comes to ODI stats away from home, Kohli beats Babar Azam by a margin. In case of both consistency and frequency of scoring fifty plus scores, Kohli is ahead in this case. So, this face-off goes to the Indian superstar.

Conclusion

Both Virat Kohli and Babar Azam are masters of the ODI format. They have shown great consistency and have left great impact for their respective teams. However, in case of the metrics considered in this article, Kohli is slightly ahead of Babar Azam.

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