The two most popular cricketing nation of Asia, Pakistan and India has always been in a rivalry against each other in the sport of cricket. Whereas sometimes fans of both the countries starts comparing their players with each other’s cricket team. The prime example is Babar Azam vs Virat Kohli Comparison in ODI, T20, and Test have been going on from recent years.
But why this comparison even started at first place? The answer is, Pakistani captain Babar Azam has been exceptional in last 3,4 years in world cricket as he has scored back to back centuries in each passing year.
The rise of Babar made the Pakistani fans to compare with Indian iconic batter Virat Kohli, in order to show the world that Babar is greater than Virat Kohli. Therefore, let’s take an eye who is ahead in this race.
Babar Azam vs Virat Kohli in ODI
Let’s start with Babar Azam, Currently Babar holds the number one batter rank in ODI cricket with 5,409 runs in 108 matches. Babar has been exceptional in ODI cricket from the day he got the opportunity to play for his nation on 31st may 2015 against Zimbabwe.
Before Babar, Pakistan was looking for someone who can fill the gap of number three in ODI and fortunately Babar Azam grabbed this opportunity and became of the best number three batsman of Pakistan.
Coming on King, Virat Kohli represented India back in 2008 era against Sri Lanka where the bowling standard was quite good, despite he made his name and made his permanent place in Indian squad at number three and became one of the greatest batter for India.
Talking about his records in ODI, Virat has played 279 matches and smashed 13,027 runs with the average of 57.39 per inning. Virat has ruled One day international cricket from 2015 to till 2019 and has been constantly at the top in ODI batting rankings as well. Moreover, Virat Kohli’s pull shot and cover drive are his strong zone in terms of scoring runs.
Who is best between Babar Azam and Virat Kohli in ODI
Now let’s come to the conclusion on who is best between Babar Azam vs Virat Kohli in odi cricket. Virat is playing from 2008 and he has proven his match winning ability at many occasions including word cup knockouts as well. Whereas Babar Azam has started way later than Virat, and the gap between the matches they both played is also quite big.
Therefore, Virat Kohli is best batsman of ODI cricket if we compare vs Babar Azam. Moreover, Babar is still young and has left many years in international cricket where he can take back this title from Virat if he can continuously performs and scores tons of runs back to back in coming years.
| Virat vs Babar In ODI |     Virat Kohli |    Babar Azam |
| Matches | Â Â Â Â Â Â 279Â | Â Â Â Â Â Â 108 |
| Runs | Â Â Â Â Â 13027 | Â Â Â Â Â Â 5409 |
| Average | Â Â Â Â Â 57.39 | Â Â Â Â Â Â 58.48 |
Babar Azam vs Virat Kohli in T20 Cricket
The shortest format of cricket which is quite entertaining and difficult as well to establish a well known name, but these two modern day greats have left their mark in t20 cricket too. Therefore, let’s look who is ahead in this battle Babar Azam vs Virat Kohli in t20.
Virat’s t20 journey started in 2010, and have played some of the best t20 knock ever of his career. Unlike other power hitter batters, Virat Kohli heavily relies on timing and placing the ball into the gaps. Moreover, Virat played 115 T20 innings and thrashed 4,008 runs with pretty impressive average of 52.74 runs in every inning.
Not only in ODI, but Babar Azam has also made him name in t20 cricket as well. Just one year later of his ODI debut, He received his T20I cap in 2016. The batting template of Babar is quite similar to Virat Kohli, but there is a big difference between the outcome of these both batters.
Though, Babar’s world cup knock against India in 2021 was exceptional under pressure, but there are no more memorable innings played by him at big stage. Talking about Babar’s t20i stats, out of 104 matches he scored 3,485 runs in t20 international cricket.
Who Is Better Between Babar And Kohli In T20
At present it can be clearly seen that Virat Kohli way ahead than Babar Azam in t20 cricket, not only by stats but also the overall impactful innings and big knocks as well. Moreover, there is also a difference between the average of both players which depicts their abilities in this short format.
| Virat vs Babar In T20 |     Virat Kohli |    Babar Azam |
| Matches | Â Â Â Â Â Â 115 | Â Â Â Â Â Â 104 |
| Runs | Â Â Â Â Â Â 4008 | Â Â Â Â Â Â 3485 |
| Average | Â Â Â Â Â 52.74 | Â Â Â Â Â Â 41.05 |
Virat Kohli vs Babar Azam In Test Cricket
Now moving ahead to the test cricket which is also known as real cricket as it tests batsman from each and every aspect of the game, from physically to mentally this format includes everything. Let’s take an eye on Virat Kohli vs Babar Azam in test cricket as well.
If there is a name which will come in history after Sir Don Bradman and Steven Smith in test cricket, then for sure it will be Virat Kohli who literally ruled the test cricket rankings for years between 2015 and 2019. Virat Kohli scored centuries in countries like Australia, South Africa, England, New Zealand and many more.
Kohli is not someone who only dominates on home soil, he has proved many times to the world that he can score runs in any part of world. Moreover, Virat Kohli played 111 test matches and made 8,676 runs including the average of 49.03.
Moving on Babar, who is coming quite fast towards the Virat Kohli in test cricket with his back to back centuries in recent years. Babar scored 6,836 runs out of 49 test matches which is quite less than Virat’s overall matches. Therefore, there is strong possibility that Babar might surpass Kohli in upcoming years in test cricket.
| Virat vs Babar In Test |     Virat Kohli |    Babar Azam |
| Matches | Â Â Â Â Â Â 111 | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 49 |
| Runs | Â Â Â Â Â Â 8676 | Â Â Â Â Â Â 6836 |
| Average | Â Â Â Â Â Â 49.03 | Â Â Â Â Â Â 47.07 |
Babar Azam vs Virat Kohli Centuries
Virat and Babar are probably one of the best player of their respective nations and has earned big fan base around the world. The more centuries Babar hits, higher the comparison increases among these two batters on who scored most centuries. Although, Virat playing international cricket before Babar’s introduction in world cricket but still let’s take a look on this stat.
The overall centuries of Virat Kohli is 77 including all three formats of the game, Test cricket (29), ODI cricket (47), and t20 cricket (1). whereas the overall century count of Babar Azam stands at 31 in all three formats, Test (9), ODI (19), and t20 (3).
Therefore, looking at above data it is clear that Virat Kohli is miles ahead in terms of comparison between Babar Azam vs Virat Kohli Centuries. But not to forget, Virat is hardly going to play 4 or 5 years more whereas Babar has still left 8-9 years so there is a possibility to reach out Virat Kohli.
     Frequently Asked Questions
Which is Virat Kohli's latest century in cricket?
Virat Kohli scored a century against Pakistan where he smashed 122* in 94 balls recently in Asia Cup 2023.
Will Babar Azam surpass Virat Kohli's centuries?
At present, Babar has 31 centuries whereas Virat has 77 hundreds. Therefore it is quite hard for Babar Azam to surpass the Virat Kohli in terms of centuries.
Who scored most runs in ODI between Babar Azam and Virat Kohli?
Babar made 5,409 runs in his ODI career, whereas Virat Kohli made 13,027 runs. Therefore, Virat Kohli scored most runs than Babar Azam in ODI.
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