Pakistan cricketer Babar Azam stated that he is nowhere close to India skipper Virat Kohli yet — in terms of batting — and wants any such comparison to cease. In the past, fans and critics alike have compared Azam to Kohli but the swashbuckling right-hander said he still has miles to go in order to reach the Indian superstar’s level.

“People keep comparing me to Virat Kohli. He is a very big player and I am not even close to him as of now,” Karachi Kings’ Azam said during a PSL 2019 event.

“I have just started my career and he has already achieved a lot in his career. I have to reach that stage,” Azam said.”

Recently, Pakistan endured a torrid time in South Africa but Azam was one of the top-performers for the away side. He finished among the top three in the Test series, scoring 221 runs in three matches, including a couple of half-centuries. Also, he was one of the highest run-getters with 216 runs in the five-match ODI series against the Proteas.

Earlier, Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur had said Azam will go on to become one of the top batsmen in the near future. However, Arthur conceded that he jumped the gun a little too soon when he predicted his young ward would be as good as Kohli.

“I think he will be in the top five [batsmen] of the world very soon across all formats. I thought I was a bit quick off the gun when I said two years ago that he would be almost as good as Virat Kohli but it has taken him a while to show that class,” Arthur was quoted as saying by Express Tribune.

“But if you watched him in the nets couple of years ago, he was a young boy who has developed into a young man, he’s got stronger and fitter and his game gets better and better all the time,” he added.

First Published: Feb 14, 2019 11:50 IST