Pakistan’s most consistent batsman in all three formats, Babar Azam has surpassed Indian skipper Virat Kohli’s Test average in 2018.
Babar enjoyed the fruit of his long-grinding in Tests on Sunday when he lifted the bat towards the pavilion after scoring his maiden Test hundred, two years after his debut.
The innings was special in many ways; it came at a time when Pakistan needed it, it was his first after 17 Tests and most importantly because Babar had missed one in the last series when he got out on 99.
Babar, who is the top T20 batsman and ranked No.5 in the ODIs, is also Pakistan’s most successful Test batsman this year.
However, Azam’s start was not as thriving as with the white ball as he only managed a couple the fifties in first 18 months after making a debut against West Indies in 2016.
However, the 24-year-old batsman has been in the sublime form in 2018 and has so far scored 470 runs in 10 innings with a number of 50 plus scores including a 99 against Australia.
He now averages 67.71 in 2018 which is quite ahead of Kohli’s 59.05 who has scored more than 1000 runs in 18 innings. The minimum criterion of the comparison is a minimum run tally of 400.
RIP Kohli AVG