Akram terms Kohli-Babar comparison a bit premature

All eyes will be on former India captain Virat Kohli when India meet Pakistan in their Asia Cup opener in Dubai on August 28.

While Kohli has gone through an extended lean patch with no hundred since November 2019, the much younger Pakistan skipper Babar Azam seems to be at the peak of his powers and doing well across formats.

The Babar Azam vs Virat Kohli debate, in fact, has been a hot topic ever since the Pakistan captain made his international debut in 2015 and recently Babar has emulated a lot of the things in his pursuit for greatness.

Kohli has struggled for runs over the past two years but Pakistan legend Wasim Akram feels the former India captain remains one of the all-time greats and comparing Babar with him is still a bit premature.

Former India skipper Virat Kohli, along with wife Anushka Sharma, and other members of the Indian side were captured on camera before leaving for Dubai. Photo: Collected

"First of all, let me start by saying that criticism from Indian fans against Kohli has been unnecessary. He is one of the greatest of all times, not just this era. He still fit as a fiddle. He is still one of the best fielders in the Indian squad.

"As they say, 'class is forever' and that is Virat Kohli. Hope he doesn't come back to form against Pakistan but he will come back eventually," said Akram in a press conference organised by Star Sports, the official broadcaster for Asia Cup.

"The comparisons are only natural. When we played, people used to compare Inzamam [Ul-Haq], Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar. Before that it was Sunil Gavaskar Javed Miandad, G Vishwanath and Zaheer Abbas.

"Babar has been very consistent, because he has got the right technique. He is very hungry and very fit. He is still a young captain but is learning very fast. However, comparisons with Virat it is too early.

"Babar is on the right track to be where Virat Kohli is but to compare him with him at this stage is too early. But he is absolutely on the right track to be one of the modern greats," said Akram in a call with long-time rival and friend Ravi Shastri.

The Pakistan great also predicted that it will be the most closely fought Asia Cup ever with the gap between teams reduced drastically.

"It will be the best Asia Cup ever in my opinion. Earlier, there used to be India Pakistan and Sri Lanka but now all teams are dangerous including Afghanistan and Bangladesh," added Akram.