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Babar Dropped From Asia Cup; Remembering When Kohli Hailed Him As 'Best Batter In The World'

Anurag Dasgupta

When Kohli hailed Babar as the best [Source: @Trend_VKohli/x.com] When Kohli hailed Babar as the best [Source: @Trend_VKohli/x.com]

Babar Azam is perhaps the best batter produced by Pakistan in the last decade, but the previous two years have been disastrous for the former captain of the team. He has not scored an international century since August 2023, and was recently dropped from the Asia Cup 2025 squad.

However, this was not the case with Babar, a few years ago. The Pakistan great used to churn out runs for fun, and raced away to 19 ODI tons in no time, and was even compared with India legend, Virat Kohli.

When Kohli hailed Babar as the best in the world

Babar Azam's admiration is shared across the border by Kohli, and before the Asia Cup 2022, Kohli hailed Babar as "the best batter in the world," a tag which Babar has failed to live up to.

"The first interaction I had with him [Babar] was during the 2019 [ODI] World Cup after the game in Manchester. I've known Imad [Wasim] since the Under-19 World Cup, and he said Babar wanted to have a chat. We sat down and spoke about the game. I saw a lot of regard and respect from him from day one, and that hasn't changed," Kohli said. "Regardless of the fact he's probably the top batsman in the world across formats, and rightly so. Performs so consistently and I've always enjoyed watching him play, as quoted by ESPN.

The rivalry between Kohli and Babar

Since 2010, Kohli has arguably been India's best batter across formats and has carved a name for himself, so much so that fans hailed him as "The King." He scored truckloads of runs across formats and became the most successful India Test captain.

With Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq retiring, Pakistan needed a saviour, and Babar was the one for them. He had a rapid rise in his career, and by the time 2020 started, he was getting compared with Kohli. From 2020 onwards, Kohli had a dip in his form, and at the same time, Babar rose to the top, and became one of the best in the world.

However, the India legend bounced back in style, and suddenly, Babar had a downfall, and now the Pakistan star is out of their T20I team.