Babar Azam has 'almost overtaken' Virat Kohli as the ultimate 50-over batter: Ian Bishop

Former West Indies pacer and legend Ian Bishop heaped high praise on the Pakistan captain Babar Azam, stating that the 27-year-old has almost overtaken Virat Kohli as the ultimate batter in the 50-over format.

Babar Azam has been in sensational form and has delivered several impactful knocks for Pakistan over the past few months. He recently smashed a terrific century in the first ODI of the recently-concluded series against West Indies, which helped him achieve the extraordinary feat of slamming three consecutive ODI centuries twice in the format. 

During a recent interaction with Crickwick.net, Bishop said Babar Azam is on the way to greatness in white-ball cricket, having almost taken over India's former captain Virat Kohli in the ODIs. 

"Babar Azam is on the road to greatness. I want to be clear when I say 'on the road to...', in the white-ball cricket at least, and certainly in fifty overs. I don't use the term 'great' loosely,"

"It has to be a bigger sample size to bestow greatness on a player, but his average, as we speak now, (is) on the cusp of 60 with 17 ODI hundreds. He has almost overtaken his next-door neighbour, the great Virat Kohli, in terms of the ultimate uber 50-over batter," said Bishop during a conversation with cricwick.net.

The all-format captain of Pakistan has accumulated 4442 runs in 89 ODI appearances at an average of 59.22 and a strike rate of 90.25. He has so far smashed 17 centuries and 19 half-centuries, which speaks volumes about the hitting abilities of the right-handed batter. 

While Babar Azam has established himself as one of the biggest names in white-ball cricket, his numbers in Test cricket still need improvement. Having featured in 40 Tests, the Pakistan batter has compiled 2851 runs with six centuries and 21 fifties at an average of 45.98. 

Speaking on the same, the West Indies-pacer-turned commentator acknowledged that Babar Azam's red-ball game still has room for improvement and cited it as a 'work in progress'.

"His Test cricket is a work in progress. I'm surprised he hasn't taken to Test cricket numbers a lot earlier. He's starting to get better at it. Technically, he's superb. In future, I'm hoping he will be mentioned in the same breath in Test cricket as the top 3-4 players," said Bishop.

Babar Azam currently occupies the number one position in the latest ICC Men's ODI rankings, with the ex-Indian captain at the third spot. He will be seen in action again when the Pakistan team takes on the Netherlands in the three-match ODI series, starting on August 12.