“Seharusnya tidak disebutkan dalam kalimat yang sama” – Ashwin tentang Babar Azam dibandingkan dengan Virat Kohli

Ravichandran Ashwin is one of the sharpest cricketing brains. The spinner has a keen eye and reads players as well as anyone in the game. He’s made one thing clear: Babar Azam shouldn’t be mentioned in the same line as Virat Kohli. Some loud voices in cricket, including Fakhar Zaman, claimed dropping Babar was akin to removing Kohli from the side.

Ashwin ends the debate

The comment came after Pakistan didn’t include the former skipper in the last two Test matches against England after his poor run in red-ball cricket since 2022. Kohli too had a bad slump whereby he didn’t score a century from 2020 to 2022 and averaged just 26.2 during the period.

However, Ashwin doesn’t believe the same. He acknowledges that Babar is a great player and has class, but he isn’t close to Kohli when it comes to achievement and proving he’s the best against great teams and in the most difficult situations. “Definitely, if he is given a chance, he will score runs. He has class, that’s okay. I feel we should end this debate once and for all. First of all, across the border, Babar Azam and Virat Kohli shouldn’t be mentioned in the same line,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

No one comes close to Kohli: Ashwin

“I am very sorry. I really rate Babar Azam as an outstanding player, but Virat Kohli’s credentials are something else. Across terrains, across times, across pressure situations, the kind of heists he has done—no one has done that in world cricket. As far as I know, at this point, if anyone comes close, it is Joe Root in Test cricket,” he concluded.