Legendary Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has made a shocking claim about batsman Babar Azam, saying that will become as big of a player as India captain Virat Kohli.


When it comes to batting and runs scored, India skipper Kohli is ahead of Azam in every format. Azam has made scores of 22, 63, 30 and 48 in the World Cup, while Kohli has scored 18, 82 and 77.

“At this point you have only one player who is playing with consistency and that is Babar Azam,” he was quoted as saying by PakPassion. “It is my hope that Babar Azam will becomes a bigger player like Virat Kohli.

“But he wont become that player if he plays 50-60 balls , scores 50-60 runs but doesn’t help Pakistan win the game.

“He needs to play long innings, you have the example of Indian players – whenever they score runs, they play long innings.

“[It] all depends on your thinking and also on what kind of coaching is being done for the player.”

Pakistan will face South Africa in their next World Cup match at Lord’s on Sunday.