Pakistan's Young Batting Sensation Reacts To His Comparison With Virat Kohli

In an interview to PTI, Babar Azam - who is a self-confessed fan of Virat Kohli - spoke about his aspiration to emulate the world's No.1 Test and ODI batsman.

Pakistan's Young Batting Sensation Reacts To His Comparison With Virat Kohli / Photo: @babarazam258 (Twitter), AFP

Karachi: Pakistan star batsman Babar Azam's unbeaten ton on home soil in the drawn Rawalpindi Test against Sri Lanka gained him a lot of praises. The flamboyant batsman reached a career-best 728 pts in the latest ICC Test batting rankings and is currently ranked number one in the T20 international rankings. Not only that, the 24-year-old has enjoyed a best ranking of second in the ODIs.

In an interview to PTI, Babar - who is a self-confessed fan of Kohli - spoke about his aspiration to emulate the world's No.1 Test and ODI batsman.

"Look he (Kohli) has already achieved a lot. He is a legend in his country. Honestly there is no comparison with me right now but eventually I also want to get where he is today," Azam said.

"The media and people have drawn comparisons between me and Virat Kohli but I realise that I still need to get more runs in red ball cricket to be ranked among the top players. That is why in recent months I have been focusing a lot on getting consistent scores in Test matches," he added.

Babar said he wanted to be a batsman who, like Kohli, could win more matches for his team.

"I don't feel any pressure if anyone compares me with Kohli or (Steve) Smith. I am now more focused on my batting and I spend hours watching videos of my innings. I catch my mistakes and then I try to ensure I don't commit them again the next time," he said.

Babar, who was in brilliant form during the Test series against Australia, admitted that the longest format of the game (Test cricket) remains to be the most difficult one.

"When I got out cheaply to a bad shot in the first innings at Brisbane, I was very cross with myself because I realised no top batman should get out like that. In the following innings I made it a point to be patient and build my innings although playing strokes comes naturally to me," he explained.

"Someday I am looking at a triple century. You need to set yourself goals as all top players do. I have set myself the target of becoming consistent in test cricket as well."

"We have played T20 and ODI matches in Pakistan but playing a Test is a totally different experience. Scoring a century in front of my home crowd was the icing on the cake for me," he said.