“Media hyped him too much”: Ex-batter gives unfiltered opinion on Virat Kohli vs Babar Azam debate

Cricket fans in India and Pakistan for years have debated who has been the better batter in the last decade. The names of Virat Kohli and Babar Azam come up in every conversation as far as the batting talents and statistics of both players are concerned. Wasim Jaffer, the former Indian batter, though, feels that comparison between the players shouldn’t happen at all.

The 48-year-old posted a video on his X handle where he said, “Babar is a good player, there is no doubt about it. He has also performed well. I obviously like him a lot as a player. But I feel he was rated more than his limit. Virat Kohli se compare karna shuru kar diya.”

Former Pakistan skipper is busy playing for Peshawar Zalmi in the current season of the Pakistan Super League. The 31-yeer-old has scored 426 runs from eight matches with one century and two fifties at an average of 85 and a strike-rate of 142.

Ex-India player hits out at Pakistani media for overhyping their star batter

Former batter with 31 Test appearances to his name also said that such comparison was what led to Babar’s prolong loss of form. “People around you treat you like that. The media is calling you King Babar. Unnecessary comparison started with Virat. And I think that pressure started playing on his mind. He tried to be like Virat Kohli.

“He tried to play like how Virat used to in the Indian team. He tried to play like that. He tried to perform like that. Virat is Virat, and he is one of the greatest players of this generation. So, I felt that the media hyped him too much. And from there, his downslide started,” he mentioned.

Where does Babar rank as run-getter in Pakistan cricket history?

The right-handed batter from Lahore is currently fifth in the table for most runs scored by a Pakistani batter. Inzamam-Ul-Haq lead the list with more than 20,000 runs, while former captains like Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, and Javed Miandad occupy the next three slots.

The Men in Green’s star batter is fifth in the list with 15,463 runs from a total of 346 games. The veteran batter has also hit a total of 32 centuries and 106 fifties at a career average of 45. Kohli, on the other hand, is the second-highest run-getter for India behind Sachin Tendulkar, with 28,215 runs from a total of 559 international games for India.