NEW DELHI: Pakistan cricketer Azam Khan has drawn a comparability between Babar Azam’s influence on Pakistan cricket and Virat Kohli’s affect on Indian cricket, highlighting how Babar reworked Pakistan’s picture from a staff recognized primarily for its quick bowlers to at least one celebrated for batting excellence — regardless of not having the identical degree of assist that Kohli loved throughout his rise.Talking on the Crickwick podcast, Azam Khan praised Babar for altering the narrative round Pakistan cricket.“Pakistan cricket was well-known due to quick bowling. However this man made it well-known due to his batting. There’s a large distinction. Like what Virat Kohli did for India,” Azam stated.He went on to level out the contrasting environments during which the 2 batters developed.“Virat Kohli had somebody round him who was a legend at the moment. Within the period he began taking part in in, he had VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, and MS Dhoni. So many huge batters. However who was there with Babar? There was nobody,” Azam added.Former Pakistan batter Mohsin Khan additionally weighed in on the dialogue, acknowledging Babar’s batting brilliance however stressing the necessity for stronger assist round him.“Babar is not a nasty batter,” Mohsin stated. “However you want a clutch of high quality gamers round him to assist him. Take a look at Virat Kohli — in Assessments, he had Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, and KL Rahul. In ODIs, he had Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. An awesome participant is made even higher when surrounded by different sturdy gamers.”Mohsin additional expressed concern over the heavy burden positioned on Babar and Mohammad Rizwan to ship constantly.“If you’re at all times put underneath stress that you must rating centuries each time you step out, they’re people too — therefore at instances you are not capable of play the sport the staff requires you to play,” he stated.Reflecting on Pakistan’s wealthy batting historical past, Mohsin added, “Throughout our time, there was Majid Khan, Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbas, and later Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, and Younis Khan. Groups are constructed on numbers — you want a gaggle of gamers who’re kind of of the identical high quality. Proper now, there’s a huge gulf between Babar and the remaining.”