‘People like Tendulkar…’: Sanjay Manjrekar sees Virat Kohli Vs Babar Azam comparison ‘unfair’

Starting 30 August, Pakistan will face qualifier Nepal, and considering the form of Babar — whose stellar rise across format and ability to break records — comparisons are bound to take place.

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar and ex-Aussie player Tom Moody, during a conversation on Star Sports show ‘Game Plan’, brought up the topic of Kohli vs. Babar and drew similarities based on their qualities in the 50-over format.

Citing the example of the ‘God of Cricket’ Sachin Tendulkar, Manjrekar said the comparisons are immediately drawn with a great one once a player performs impressively. Also, he remembered when a comparison was done between Sachin and Kohli, but he felt it was ‘unfair’.

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“Absolutely, and we can expect that to happen again. Just one thing that you know people like Tendulkar and Virat Kohli have had to deal with that they’ve had long careers and they sort of have spanned over 10 to 15 years and anytime there’s been a rising star, he’s been compared to a guy who’s been in the race for a long time. So sometimes it can be a little unfair but the greatness of these two guys is that they maintain that standard that the best performance of a rising player is equated with it,” Star Sports quoted Manjrekar as saying.

He added, “Yes, both very good players. One is obviously in his prime younger but coming to this kind of platform we want to say Virat Kohli and see with the format that we have here not the T20 format, Asia Cup this time round you might just see a bit of Babar Azam and maybe show his place as well.”

Kohli vs. Babar:

Though the discussion and comparison between Pakistan skipper Babar Azam and Virat Kohli aren’t new, both the cricketers share very good relationships.

Babar had shared a heartwarming post on X to show support towards Kohli in the Asia Cup last year and both were seen sharing laughter on the sidelines of India and Pakistan’s practice in the UAE.

However, Moody said he sees a lot of Kohli in Babar in terms of approach towards the game. He said, “I think absolutely he is. He does remind me very much of Virat Kohli, the way he goes about his business. He plays authentic cricket shots. He seems to understand and read the game very well, which Kohli has done for over a decade. He is a good chaser as well like Virat Kohli has proven to be over many many years. So, there’s so much likeness between the two and I wouldn’t go as far as saying that Virat is gonna have a better Asia Cup than Babar Azam, but they both can have equal pressure on them and it’s gonna be delight to watch them both bat because they are box office.”

Updated: 26 Aug 2023, 07:19 PM IST