Moody, Manjrekar compare Babar Azam, Virat Kohli in ODIs ahead of Asia Cup

Former Australian cricketer, Tom Moody and ex-Indian cricketer, Sanjay Manjrekar, engaged in a discussion on the Star Sports, where the conversation revolved around drawing parallels and distinctions between Virat Kohli and Babar Azam, particularly in the context of their performances in the 50-over cricket format.

Moody expressed his belief that Babar carries a strong resemblance to Virat Kohli in terms of their cricketing approach. He noted that Azam's playing style encompasses genuine cricketing shots and a profound understanding of the game, much like Kohli's approach that has spanned over a decade.

 “He [Babar] does remind me very much of Virat Kohli, the way he goes about his business. He plays authentic cricket shots. He seems to understand, read the game very well, which Kohli has done for over a decade. He is a good chaser as well like Virat Kohli has proven to be over many many years. So, there's so much likeness between the two and I wouldn't go as far as saying that Virat is gonna have a better Asia Cup than Babar Azam, but they both can have equal pressure on them and it's gonna be a delight to watch them both bat because they are box office,” Moody said.

Furthermore, Tom Moody also shared his perspective on Babar Azam's position as the captain of the Pakistan team in the forthcoming 2023 Asia Cup.

“Well, the captaincy for any captain in any Asian team is always a very challenging one. The microscope is very much on every single captain and every single move and suddenly you've got so many experts out there when you do make a move that maybe not be the right move at the time but I think that he's still dealing with the growing pressures of captaincy there's no question of that.

So, you know, he'll only continue to get better. He is also got around him, I mentioned the experience of this Pakistan side now he's also got a lot of experience around him and a lot of players that have been in captaincy roles whether that be in franchise cricket or in their domestic cricket, so he's got a lot of strong leadership pillars around which I'm sure he'll draw upon,” Moody added.

With the focus shifting to the 50-over format of the Asia Cup, Manjrekar expressed his anticipation for Babar to seize the opportunity and establish his prominence on this stage.

 “Yes, both very good players. One obviously in his prime younger but coming to these kind of platform we want to say Virat Kohli and see with the format that we have here not the T20 format, Asia Cup this time round you might just see a bit Babar Azam and maybe show his place as well,” Manjrekar said.