Premature to compare Babar Azam with Virat Kohli: Aakash Chopra

India’s former cricketer Aakash Chopra, in a YouTube interview with ex-Pakistan pacer Tanvir Ahmed on Friday, claimed that it was premature to compare Pakistan’s prolific batsman Babar Azam and India’s skipper Virat Kohli at this time in their respective careers.

The 42-year-old believed that Kohli had already established his name amongst the all-time greats whereas Babar still had a long way to go.

“Babar is an exciting talent. There is no doubt about that. It is also true that Virat Kohli is very far away in this race. He is older and started cricket before Babar. Virat’s name is already included in the conversation of all-time greats,” said Chopra.

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“Babar has the necessary skills to reach that point, but the real question is whether he will be able to reach those heights which depends on many things such as discipline, injuries, form and many other things which will come along as time goes on. Talent can only take you to a place but you have to have that incredible passion that drives you forward. Virat did not have that from the start but fostered it along the way,” he added.

The former cricketer believed that Kohli had an incredible passion which drives him towards greatness.

“Comparing the two batsmen at the start of their careers seems a little unfair. Virat was exceptionally talented from the start. I can’t say that Babar is batting better than Virat was during this stage of his career but both are exceptional talents. Now the difference in Virat is his extreme focus. He is disciplined and focused on his training and diet. This level of discipline comes from that incredible passion,” he concluded.

Chopra represented his country in 10 Tests while scoring 437 runs at an average of 23.