Babar Azam: Pakistan's Classical Batter and His Rise to World Number One
The cricket career of Babar Azam — Pakistan captain, classical batting technique compared to Kohli and Smith, simultaneous top ODI and T20I rankings in 2021–2023, captaincy controversies, and what defines his place in modern cricket.
Babar Azam is the most talented and prolific batter Pakistan has produced since Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf, and by the age of 29 he had accumulated career statistics that placed him unambiguously among the four or five best batters of his generation across all formats. Born in Lahore in 1994, Babar made his ODI debut in 2015 and his Test debut in 2016, and by 2021 he had simultaneously reached No.1 in the ICC ODI batting rankings and the ICC T20I batting rankings — the first Pakistan batter to hold top spot in both formats at the same time.
Batting Technique: The Classical Method in a Modern Era
Babar Azam's batting is defined by correctness and elegance in an era where unconventional power hitting dominates limited-overs cricket. His footwork against pace is exceptional: he moves into position early, keeps his head still through impact, and plays through the V with minimal bottom-hand dominance — all hallmarks of classical technique. His off-side play, particularly the cover drive and the straight drive, is technically among the cleanest in the current game, drawing frequent comparisons to Virat Kohli and Steve Smith in terms of the orthodoxy and timing of his strokemaking. Against spin, Babar demonstrates good use of his feet and a soft-handed touch that allows him to play late and manipulate the ball into gaps rather than imposing power. His ability to score at a strike rate appropriate for the format — building conservatively in Tests, accelerating in ODIs, attacking from the outset in T20Is — reflects a technical range that supports sustained performance across all three formats. The comparison with Kohli in particular is made by coaches and commentators primarily because of the similarity in their pre-delivery press, their driving positions through the off side, and the role they serve as their nation's batting backbone.
Captaincy, Controversies, and Pakistan Cricket's Demands
Babar Azam's captaincy has been among the most scrutinised aspects of his career. Appointed Pakistan Test and T20I captain in 2019 at the age of 25, he led the team with early success in T20Is and white-ball cricket before series losses and Pakistan's tournament exits generated intense media debate in Pakistan about his captaincy decisions and team selections. In September 2023, following Pakistan's early exit from the Asia Cup, Babar resigned as white-ball captain — though he retained the Test captaincy briefly before also stepping down from that role in November 2023 after Pakistan's ODI World Cup semi-final failure. He was subsequently reappointed white-ball captain in early 2024, reflecting both the absence of a compelling alternative leader and recognition that Pakistan's batting is materially stronger with Babar in a comfortable role. The volatility of captaincy decisions around him is partly a function of Pakistan cricket's historically turbulent administrative environment, in which captains face extraordinary public pressure and board politics that international players from more stable cricketing nations do not experience to the same degree.
Frequently asked questions
How does Babar Azam's career compare to that of Virat Kohli, and is the comparison fair given the different environments they operate in?
The comparison between Babar Azam and Virat Kohli is one of the most discussed topics in contemporary cricket, and it is both instructive and somewhat misleading depending on what you are trying to measure. At the surface level, the comparison rests on batting technique. Both players share a classical, high-elbow stance, exceptional footwork against pace, and a dominant off-side game built around the cover and straight drive. Both became their nation's most important batter at a young age and have operated as the structural centrepiece of their side's batting in all three formats. Both have simultaneously held high ICC batting rankings across multiple formats. These similarities are real and not manufactured by the media. However, the career statistics and context diverge substantially. Kohli, by the age when Babar had accumulated his statistics, had already passed 20,000 international runs across all formats and held the record for the most international centuries after Sachin Tendulkar. Kohli at his peak from 2016 to 2019 was performing at a level that few players in cricket history have matched: 11 Test centuries in 2016–2017, an ODI average above 60 sustained over a decade, a Test average above 50 across home and away conditions including Australia and South Africa. Babar's rates of accumulation are excellent — among the best of his generation — but have not yet matched Kohli's absolute peak volume. The environmental differences are also material. Kohli plays for India, where the cricket infrastructure, player development systems, and commercial support are the richest in the world. Indian domestic cricket (the Ranji Trophy and, critically, the IPL) provides Kohli with sustained elite competition that Pakistani domestic cricket, while producing fine cricketers, does not match in the same breadth. Babar's development, in contrast, occurred partly in a cricket environment where the Pakistan Super League was in its infancy, domestic bilateral tours to Pakistan were disrupted for over a decade after the 2009 Lahore attack, and institutional support for player development was less systematic. The captaincy dimension also differentiates them. Kohli's captaincy, while controversial in its final phases, produced India's rise to the No.1 Test ranking across a dominant home and competitive away record. Babar's captaincy has been more turbulent, partly because of Pakistan cricket's administrative instability and partly because Pakistan's squads have been more inconsistent in supporting his batting with consistent performances from others. The fairest assessment is that Babar is a genuinely world-class batter who belongs in a conversation about the best of his generation, but the Kohli comparison, while flattering and grounded in real technical similarities, overstates their equivalence. Kohli at Babar's age had already passed the statistical thresholds that Babar is still approaching.