Pakistani fans went into overdrive after Pakistan captain Babar Azam bagged the ODI Player of the Year award for the 2nd time in a row. But can we mock Indian legend Virat Kohli for that? But this news confirms that they take a cruel delight in doing so.
Babar Azam has scored 679 runs in 9 ODIs in 2022 at an average of 84.87. He has been outstanding in the past year as a captain as well as a personal achievement. In Test cricket, Pakistan has been doing well, losing only one match in ODI cricket.
In this case, it is not uncommon for Pakistani well-wishers to compare Babar Azam with Virat Kohli. Pakistan ex-players, present-day players, commentators and fans have always compared him to the Indian player. A few examples can be mentioned.
- Gavaskar – Majeed Khan
- Azharuddin – Zakir Abbas
- Vengsarkar- Javed Miandat
- Kapil Dev – Imran Khan
- Sachin Tendulkar-Inzamam-ul-Haq
- Dhoni – Misbah-ul-Haq
- Virat Kohli – Babar Azam
But when Virender Sehwag scored 302 runs and earned the name ‘Sultan of Multan’, the reality was that there was not a single player in Pakistan to compare. This is not possible. Once when Irfan Pathan scored a hat-trick in a Test match in Pakistan, Javed Miandat, who was heartbroken, was reassuring himself that ‘Pakistan has street after street of Irban Pathans’. But a magnanimous person like Imran Khan never compared Gavaskar with anyone. Imran Khan’s strength is that Gavaskar is a unique player.
But no one can compare an Indian player with a Pakistani player, be it Indian players, past or present. Sometimes Zakir Khan and Irfan Pathan have been compared to genius swing bowlers like Wasim Akram, but the truth is, not to a great extent. Even this comparison is out of awe of Wasim Akram and not out of lack of Pakistan comparison.
In this case, a Pakistani fan joked in his tweet that “Virat Kohli won the ICC Umpire of the Year Award”. Because Kohli influenced the umpire during that India-Pakistan thriller during the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup. Mentioning it, they joked that the best referee is Kohli.
Some more Twitter users have liked it. Another Twitter user said, ‘Babar Azam has proven himself in difficult batting conditions and pitches. But, Kohli is the one who scored hundreds on batting pitches, on batting advantage pitches and on batting pitches specially prepared for Kohli and the Indian team.
It would be wrong to think that such fights among the fans are what keeps cricket interesting. Virat Kohli and Babar Asham on the other hand. Babar Azam Virat Kohli and each other respect each other and enjoy the game and talk to each other is good for the health of cricket.
