ISLAMABAD – Pakistan bowed out of the ICC Cricket World Cup after failingto make it to the top 4 due to a poor net run rate.
India, on the other hand, suffered a defeat in the semi-final at the handsof New Zealand in what turned out to be a thriller of a contest spanningover two days, due to rain on the first day and a reserve day policy.
There have been plenty of comparisons being drawn between Virat Kohli andBabar Azam who are considered two of the best batsmen around in cricket.While some may say the Indian skipper is way ahead of his competitor fromacross the border, there have been plenty of stats and numbers suggestingthat Babar is right up there with him, if not ahead.
Without much talk, let’s skip to the figures and see who is the betterbatsman. During the World Cup, the 24-year-old Babar became thesecond-fastest to 3,000 ODI runs, the first being South African great,Hashim Amla. Babar took 68 innings to cross the mark as compared to ViratKohli’s 75.
Similarly, he has been faster to 1,000 and 2,000 ODI runs as compared toKohli. At one time, Babar held the joint record for the fastest 1,000 runsin ODI history, which was later bettered by Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq.
Here are the numbers from the Cricket World Cup:*Innings* *Runs* *Average* *Highest Score* *100s/50s* *6s/4s*Babar Azam 8 474 67.71 101* 1/3 2/50Virat Kohli 9 443 55.37 82 0/5 2/38
Read Top Stories
The numbers are clearly indicative of his better outing at the mega eventas compared to Virat Kohli. Babar edged past Kohli in terms of the runsscored, the average, the hundreds and even the number of boundaries scoredduring the tournament.
The top-order batsman has also overtaken Javed Miandad as the highestrun-getter for Pakistan in a single edition of the World Cup.
It might be too early for us or anyone to call Babar a legend, but, he’s aclass act for sure. He has been the run-machine Pakistan cricket team hadbeen missing for many years and his inclusion in the team has strengthenedour batting unit significantly.
