CN CONTRAST: Virat Kohli vs Babar Azam - Record Against Top Opposition, In Chases & From 2015 Suggests There Is Only One King

In a new series on Cricketnext – CN CONTRAST, we try and compare two great players and gauge who had a bigger impact on their country based on various parameters and factors. This could be two peers who played for the same team in the same era, two rivals who represented different countries during the same period, or an upstart vs an established star.  

Our first feature involves one of the greatest batsmen in the history of ODI cricket – Virat Kohli and the new sensation from Pakistan Babar Azam. Many comparisons have been made about the similarity in style and numbers between the two sub-continental batsmen. Let us analyse them on various parameters and put the debate to rest.

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AFTER 78 INNINGS

Firstly, let us put out the latest numbers which have been doing the rounds in social networking sites and making the Pakistani fans happy – and that is a comparison after 78 respective innings – the number of innings Azam has batted in the format.

Azam has scored 3808 runs in 78 innings at an average of 56.83 and strike rate of 88.7 including 13 hundreds and 17 fifties. Kohli had an aggregate of 3100 runs in 78 innings at an average of 45.58 and a strike rate of 83.26 with 8 hundreds and 20 fifties.

These numbers need to be looked at through the prism of the role played by Azam and Kohli for their respective teams in these first 78 innings. While Azam has been the mainstay of Pakistan batting since his debut in 2015 and has occupied the number 3 position 62 times, Kohli for the better part of this period was a support act with the likes of Tendulkar, Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni dominating the batting. He batted at his number 3 position 41 times in this time frame. Kohli was just about coming into his own by the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012. In fact, the innings which transformed him from a good ODI batsman to a modern legend was the 79th inning of his career – the brilliant unbeaten 133 off 86 deliveries as India chased down Sri Lanka’s 320 at Hobart with more than 13 overs to spare!

CONTRIBUTION IN WINS

Babar Azam has a batting average of 86.74 in victorious matches for Pakistan which is marginally higher than Kohli’s 76.44 in wins for India. Again, one of the reasons for this is the team composition. While Azam has been the playmaker for Pakistan and the only world-class batsman in ODI cricket since his debut, Kohli has been a part of a world-beating Indian team in the last few years and as such shared his batting impact with other greats like Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, and MS Dhoni. Azam is a fine player in an ordinary Pakistan ODI outfit and thus stands out whereas Kohli is a great player in a great Indian ODI unit and thus the batting impact gets divided.

Incidentally, 10 of Azam’s 13 hundreds (77%) have resulted in a win for Pakistan whereas 35 of Kohli’s 43 hundreds in the format (81.4%) have been in victorious matches for India.

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QUALITY OF OPPOSITION

Kohli has a staggering record against the best of the opposition teams during his career. He has scored 6591 runs in 138 innings at a strike rate of almost 93 with 22 hundreds against the likes of SENA and Pakistan (excluding Sri Lanka, West Indies, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Ireland amongst major teams). His batting average of 54.47 is the highest amongst all batsmen of the last decade against such opposition.

Azam has scored 2047 runs in 48 innings at an average of 47.6 and strike rate of 87.03 against such opposition. While Kohli’s frequency of recording a hundred against the top-quality teams is one in every 6.27 matches, Azam scores a century once every 12 innings against such opposition.

PERFORMANCE IN BIG TOURNAMENTS

Azam has scored 607 runs in 13 innings at an average of 60.7 and strike rate of 84.54 in the two marquee world events in ODI cricket – the World Cup and the Champions Trophy. His frequency of scoring a fifty-plus score is once every 3.25 innings.

Kohli has scored 1559 runs in 38 innings at an average of 55.67 and strike rate of 88.52 in such matches. His frequency of producing a 50-plus score is one every 2.92 matches.

DOMINATING BILATERAL SERIES

Kohli has scored in excess of 300 runs in a bilateral series on 8 occasions. He aggregated 558 runs in 6 matches in the ODI series in South Africa in 2018 which is the record for the maximum runs scored in a single bilateral series in ODI history. Azam has scored 300-plus in a bilateral series just twice – both against weak opposition teams in the UAE (West Indies in 2016 and Sri Lanka in 2017).

RECORD IN CHASES

Kohli is the greatest chaser in the history of ODI cricket. He has scored 7149 runs in 136 innings at an average of 68.08 (the highest in history) and a strike rate of 94.46 batting second for India. The team has won 22 of the 26 times Kohli has registered a hundred in the format.

India has lost just one match (against South Africa in Port Elizabeth in 2011) when Kohli has remained unbeaten in a chase!

Azam, on the other hand, has an average of 52.12 and strike rate of 83.81 in chases. Only four of his 13 hundreds (31% compared to Kohli’s 60%) have come while gunning down a target for Pakistan.

There is a significant difference in the records in chases which carries with itself a unique challenge and pressure – something which Kohli has mastered over the years.

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COMPARISON SINCE AZAM DEBUT

Instead of comparing the two sub-continent batsmen in their first 78 innings, a better contrast would be achieved by looking at their careers since Azam made his ODI debut in May 2015.

Kohli is the highest scorer in the world in this period with an aggregate of 5632 runs in 95 innings at a stunning average of 71.29 and strike rate of 97.5 including 21 hundreds and 29 fifties. Azam has an aggregate of 3808 runs in 78 innings at an average of 56.83 and strike rate of 88.7 with 13 hundreds and 17 fifties.

Since both are top-order batsmen, we can consider the Actual Average (Runs/Innings). Kohli’s Actual Average is 59.28 while Azam pales in comparison with an average of 48.82.

LONGEVITY AND WORLD CONQUEROR

Kohli has sustained levels of unparalleled excellence for most of his career. Thus, he has scored 12169 runs in 245 innings at an average of 59.07 and strike rate of 93.17 with 43 hundreds during his ODI career. He has an average of in excess of 50 and a strike rate of more than 90 in seven calendar years – which is a mind-boggling superhuman effort!

He averages above 50 in Australia, South Africa and England and almost 50 in New Zealand. Azam has a poor record in New Zealand with an average of almost half of Kohli’s.

The Pakistani batsman has played a third of the matches as compared to Kohli and has to maintain the high standards for another six to seven years to come anywhere near Kohli.

Comparisons between Kohli and Azam are futile. There is no comparison. His numbers against quality opposition, record in chases and the differential since Azam’s debut put Kohli in a league of his own, several notches above anyone else including Azam.

Kohli is amongst the greatest ODI batsmen in the history of the game. The only three batsmen who come close are Viv Richards, Sachin Tendulkar, and AB de Villiers but the King has left even them behind – the sheer volume of runs he has scored and the manner and match situations he has scored them from making Virat Kohli unarguably the greatest ODI batsman ever!

Azam has a lot of catching up to do!

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