For a little while in the late 2010s and early 2020s, Babar Azam and Virat Kohli’s names were uttered in the same line. It wasn’t just enthusiastic Pakistani fans but even cricket legends felt Babar was following the Kohli route.
Several former cricketers felt Babar should be added to the Fab 4: Kohli, Steve Smith, Joe Root, and Kane Williamson. A few years later, all the chat has disappeared. While Kohli’s form in Test cricket deteriorated, Babar has struggled since 2023. From 2016 to 2022, the star Pakistani batter averaged over 40 across formats. Since then, he’s been in steady decline.
End of King discussions
In the last couple of years, Babar has been dropped from the Test and T20I sides. That never happened with Kohli. He retired from the shortest format after winning the 2024 T20 World Cup and retired from Test cricket in May 2025.
Come the 2026 T20 World Cup, Babar was moved to the middle order from opener. Playing in tricky conditions in Sri Lanka, he was expected to anchor the innings. But he’s failed. In the biggest game of them all, India vs Pakistan, Babar succumbed to pressure.
That’s where his comparison with Kohli ends. The Indian great always stood up in tough times for India. Kohli averaged a whopping 70.28 against Pakistan. In comparison, Babar’s at 22. Almost half of his overall career performance.
Another factor to compare how they handle pressure is judging one’s record while chasing. Here, Kohli clears Babar not by a small margin, but there’s a difference of 104. Yes, you heard that right. It’s such a monumental difference that you can’t even describe it.
Record while chasing in T20 World Cup
- Virat Kohli: Average of 135.50 and Strike Rate of 134.15
- Babar Azam: Average of 31.20 and Strike Rate of 103.65
Babar’s the opposite of a clutch or big-match player. For a brief moment in 2021, when Pakistan beat India by 10 wickets in the T20 World Cup, one felt the comparisons of Babar and Kohli were justified. Since that match, Babar has scored 42 runs, an average of 8.40, against India in 5 games.
Not once has he passed the 15-run mark. His strike rate is just 113.51. That means, once he departs, other Pakistani batters have to make up for his slow play. Forget positive or neutral, Babar has a net negative impact when he plays against India. If this doesn’t prove that one can’t compare Babar with Kohli, nothing can.
Babar Azam’s T20I record vs India
| Innings | Runs | Highest Score | Average | Strike Rate | 100s | 50s | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 135 | 4571 | 122 | 39.06 | 128.18 | 3 | 39 |
| vs India | 6 | 110 | 68* | 22 | 123.59 | 0 | 1 |
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