Babar Azam Virat Kohli Shoaib Akhar for India Pakistan. Image Credits: AFP
Former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Akhtar shared his thoughts on which Pakistani batter is their answer to India’s Virat Kohli. He said those words on a Pakistani talk show, where the presenter had asked him about the cricketer’s contributions to Pakistan cricket.
And not that player was not Babar Azam, who is widely compared to Virat Kohli by Pakistani cricket fans. Babar Azam has left India’s Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s record for most runs in T20I cricket behind. Babar Azam is also put at the level of Javed Miandad, Inzamam Ul Haq and Younis Khan by Pakistani fans.
Shoaib Akhtar says Younis Khan is Pakistan’s Virat Kohli; reveals why
Shoaib Akhtar appeared on Geo TV’s Hasna Mana Hai and the presenter talked about players who played with the Pakistani pacer. The conversation came to Younis Khan and Shoaib Akhtar praised the former Pakistan captain for his hard work and for consistently working for betterment of Pakistan cricket.
He recalled that in Pakistan’s history only two players have had the fortune to win the World Cup trophies with Imran Khan being the first in 1992 and Younis Khan winning the T20 World Cup in 2009. He also called Younis Khan the Virat Kohli of India, for putting in immense work on his fitness and training and for working hard given that he had limited natural flair and gifts.
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Younis Khan’s excellent record for Pakistan
Younis Khan made his Pakistan debut in 2000 and slowly rose to become the backbone of their batting unit. He made sure that Pakistan didn’t miss Inzamam Ul Haq after his retirement in 2007 and ensured that Pakistan had a robust batting back up.
Younis Khan is one of the few Pakistani batter to score a triple hundred in Tests and also got runout for 199. Overall, Younis made 10099 runs in 118 Tests at an average of 52.05 with 34 centuries and 33 fifties with the highest score of 313. He is the only Pakistani batter to cross 10,000-run mark in Tests.
He also played 265 ODIs, scoring 7249 runs at an average of 31.24 with 7 centuries and 48 fifties with the best score of 144. He also played 25 T20Is, scoring 442 runs with two fifties and also led Pakistan to 2009 T20 World Cup in England.
Shoaib Akhtar calls Sachin Tendulkar the greatest batsman of all time
In the same conversation, Shoaib Akhtar was asked to name the greatest batsman of all time. He chose India's Sachin Tendulkar above greats from his era like Ricky Ponting, Martin Crowe, and Javed Miandad as well as contemporary greats like Steve Smith, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma.
“Sachin is the greatest batsman of all time. Period. Maine Viv (Richards) ko dekha nahi hai khelte hue, maine Imran (Khan) bhai ko dekha hai khelte hue, maine Wasim (Akram) bhai ko dekha hai khelte hue. Martin Crowe mere favourite the, Ricky Ponting mere favourite the, lekin Sachin has to be the greatest of all time. Vo bahut bade player hai, aaj bhi maanta hu," Akhtar said on Pakistani show Hasna Mana Hai.
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