Whenever a new cricketer emerges into the cricket arena, there is always a tussle. If a batsman arises in his career from India, then a bowler evolves from Pakistan and these countries have never faced a shortage. The Indian cricket team is especially known for producing some world-class batsmen. Currently, the Indian cricket team captain, Virat Kohli is hailed as the king on the country’s batting line.
The Delhi born cricketer played his debut match in 2oo8 and has been batting ever since then. In International cricket, he has scored 20,000 runs with 68 centuries. Many batsmen from other countries tried to carry their batting hopes. Among these players, few stars are selected and compared with Kohli.
5 Pakistan Batsmen who where compared with Virat Kohli:
1) Ahmed Shehzad
The only Pakistan cricketer to hit a century in all three formats is Ahmed Shehzad. This definitely means that the right-handed batsman will succeed in different conditions. Though he isn’t familiar with scoop shots or switch hits, he has a good stand on the game. During the initial years of his international career, he played a few awesome stroke-plays.
Shehzad stole the limelight after his terrific performance and country termed him the mainstay of batting for the upcoming decade. Slowly, fans started a comparison check with the Indian batting legend, Virat Kohli.
Due to his fitness and behavior, he dug his own grave. Since then, he started to do hard work in the domestic circle to get back on track. Even today, when he posts his gym training sessions on social media, fans slam him for imitating Virat. Few even say that his beard resembles the current Indian captain.
2) Umar Akmal
Few years ago Pakistan went on a tour to New Zealand and that’s when they found a solution to their batting line. A youngster picked up his debut Test century just like Chris Martin and Shane Bond. Immediately, Umar Akmal was hailed as the red dwarf of the Pakistan team.
His batting was remarkable and cricket critics named him the rising star of the game. However, at the same time, Virat Kohli made his debut match and few pundits started comparing both their performances. In terms of batting, Umar is a tiny step ahead of Kohli. It would be different if both sailed in the same boat.
Unfortunately, Umar didn’t receive the same support from the selection committee and was occasionally appearing in the green jersey. Umar’s brother, Kamran Akmal also admitted that he would have been a consistent player like Virat if opportunities knocked his door. During several crucial stages of the game, Akmal left the team at high and dry times.
3) Babar Azam
Usually, when an individual follows the path of his idol with all his heart and soul, success will definitely knock his doors. One example for the above statement is Babar Azam. This Pakistani batsman is pilling runs smashing every bowling attack. Currently, Babar is the support system of the Pakistan squad leading them to a success path. With his runs every game, the batting line has become stronger.
The key strength of his success is consistency. That’s the main reason he is compared with Virat. Just like the Indian skipper, Azam also likes to be on top of things. He has evolved to be a run machine in the white ball format. At an early stage of his career, this cricketer has been tagged as the future captain of his team.
If this performance continues for the next couple of years, he will be in power with Kohli. Though his captaincy skills are not showcased, he will surely become a good leader one day. Due to their egoistic behavior, few cricketers ruined their career and we are hoping that Babar doesn’t fall in this category.
4) Shan Masood
This name might not be popular in International cricket but Shan Masood is a highly rated cricketer in domestic cricket of Pakistan. In the list-A career, Shan tops at an average of 54. The left handed batsman lists on the top order of the Pakistan squad with good techniques and is known for his timely shots to pick up runs.
Though his establishments in International cricket are to be questioned, the southpaw has done some heroic shots in domestic circuit. One year before, his average was at 58 in list-A which was on par with the Indian skipper, Virat Kohli. He was part of the podcast hosted by Deniis Freedman and it was a great platform for him to share his cricket dreams and ideas.
During a talk in the show, Freedman also compared his statistics with Virat Kohli’s List-A performance. Masood was elated to be compared with such an excellent player. Also, he boasted that his current average is better than the Indian skipper and wishes to continue the same. Fans of Kohli fumed when they heard this statement and even trolled him for the same. The Pakistan player apologized for being compared to the modern-day legend.
5) Azhar Ali
Azhar Ali is not known for his accomplishments in Pakistan cricket but surely is people’s favorite. Whenever the Pakistan team won a Test match, Ali’s contribution has been a major factor for their victory. His Test average of 43 in red-ball is noteworthy as an opening batsman.
In the year 2016, this right-handed batsman experienced his dream run. From 2017 onwards, he was an integral part of the team and played some memorable shots in the span of 15months. In a few years, his dominance in cricket was praiseworthy and made it to the headlines for an interesting analogy between king Kohli and him. During those days, Kohli held his head high with his double hundreds.
Though these cricketers from Pakistan are compared with Kohli based on consistency and class, most of us forget that only one person can emulate him and its King Kohli himself.