'Kohli wins you matches under pressure' - Virat Kohli can't be compared to Babar Azam despite T20I runs, explain former Pakistan stars

India will be facing arch-rivals Pakistan in an thrilling encounter in the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup on Sunday, June 9. The epic clash is scheduled to be played at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York. 

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India enter the game after a comprehensive victory over Irelan in their opening match of the tournament, while on the other hand, Pakistan were humiliated in their opening game, losing to the hosts, USA in a thrilling super over. This has left the men in green in a difficult situation, making the clash against India a must win game to keep their super eights qualification chances alive. 

Ahead of the mammoth clash, panelists including legendary Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal discussed Pakistan’s performance and also exposed the reality of the Babar Azam comparisons with Virat Kohli on a Pakistani show, Har Lamha Purjosh. 

READ MORE: Can Pakistan reach Super 8 after the loss against USA?

Kamran Akmal: Virat Kohli would have scored 10,000 runs if he played as many games as Babar Azam

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam scored a very slow 44 run knock off 43 deliveries in the game against USA, but was able to overtake Virat Kohli in T20I runs with 4067 runs to his name. Pointing this out, one of the panelists on the show said that the talk on social media today would be about Babar overtaking Kohli in terms of T20I runs, but we shouldn’t forget that Kohli has won matches for India. 

Carrying his point, Kamran Akmal went on to state that no doubt Babar is a great player and is the best batsman in Pakistan, but had Kohli played the same number of games like the Pakistanis do, he would have scored much more runs. 

Virat Kohli has scored 4000 runs in T20Is. I’m not discrediting Babar, he is without a doubt the best batsman in the Pakistan camp, but had Virat Kohli played all games like we do, he would have scored 10,000 runs. 

Further stressing on the same point, one of the other panelists added, saying, “It’s not just about 4000 runs. Every run that Kohli scores contributes to the team’s success, his vision is just to win the game. In the 2022 World Cup game against Pakistan, there was no way Pakistan was losing that much, but it’s Kohli and Pandya who calculated the whole game and paced their innings accordingly to win it for India in the last three overs.”

READ MORE: Pakistan's Azam Khan fights with fan during T20 World Cup 2024 match against USA

What’s next for Babar and Pakistan?

The stakes in an India vs Pakistan game are always high and the Pakistanis will be under loads of pressure entering this game, especially the skipper, Babar Azam. He has been heavily criticized for his slow paced innings’ in T20Is and lack of leadership skills in recent days by the media and former Pakistan cricketers. 

READ MORE: 'Terrible cricket' - Pakistan fielding slammed after overthrows and extras in Super Over vs USA

Pakistan will have to defeat India to ease some pressure off the shoulders and continue their quest to qualify for the super eights. Following the game against India, Pakistan will be playing against Canada and Ireland in their final two group stage fixtures.