Pakistan skipper Babar Azam's supporters hit out at talismanic India batter Virat Kohli after the former was chosen the ICC's ODI Player of the Year for the second time in a row.
In 2022, Babar Azam made 679 runs in nine ODIs at a phenomenal average of 84.87 with three tons.
On the other hand, Virat Kohli wasn't nominated for the awards. Notably, Virat Kohli hardly played One-Day Internationals last year as the Men in Blue focused their energies on T20Is, considering it was the year of the T20 World Cup in Australia.
With Babar Azam bagging one of the biggest individual honors in world cricket, his fans took to social media to take a swipe at Virat Kohli.
— Zeeshan Javed 🤡 (@Mr_Kakarowt) January 26, 2023
Kohli fans checking ICC Awards list and Babar Azam winning two major awards : pic.twitter.com/g3AanJjZio
— Avinash Aryan (@AvinashArya09) January 26, 2023
Bangrat must be crying 😂 😂 pic.twitter.com/iI7QF4HxG8
— Imran (@Imran19019920) January 26, 2023
Babar Azam and Virat Kohli fans often take jibes at each other, highlighting the records of the two players.
Earlier, this month, Virat Kohli’s vast legion of fans castigated the premier Pakistan batter by labeling him “Zimbabar” on social media.
The 28-year-old Pakistani cricketer has been accused of scoring truckloads of runs on placid pitches in his home country, which former players like Simon Doull have publicly described as “roads” in recent days.
Moreover, yet another allegation that has come Babar Azam’s way is that he only plays for records and not for victories, earning him the moniker of “Zimbabar”.
Last month, even Pakistani cricket admirers were seen mocking him with “Zimbabar” chants inside the stadium during Pakistan’s Test match against England.
Though there seems to be an apparent animosity between Babar Azam and Virat Kohli's supporters, both players have publicly stated their admiration for each other.
“Babar is a very nice guy. I have always had good conversations with him. I am not sure about kinship since he is much younger to me, but there is respect. There is always respect,” Virat Kohli remarked last year.
“He was always keen to learn. He spoke to me after our game in the 2019 World Cup. I have always said he is keen to learn, and there’s no surprise that he is playing like this in all formats of the game. He is obviously a very talented player,” Virat Kohli added.
Ditto for Babar Azam, who heaped praise on Virat Kohli following his iconic knock against Pakistan in Melbourne during the T20 World Cup.
“Virat Kohli just showed his class today. It was a close game, and people enjoyed it,” a stunned Babar Azam had said after the India superstar's unbeaten 82-run knock dubbed by many pundits as the greatest T20I innings.
After experiencing a three-year lull, Virat Kohli has made a grand return to form in the past five months, particularly in limited-overs cricket.
More recently, he broke a slew of world records during his masterful unbeaten 166-run-knock off 110 deliveries against Sri Lanka this month.
With his 166 not out against the islanders, Virat Kohli now has the most unbeaten 150+ scores (5) in the history of ODIs.
The ton was his 21st at home in the second-longest format of the sport, taking him clear of Sachin Tendulkar’s previous tally of 20.
During his sensational innings, Virat Kohli also overtook Sri Lanka legend Mahela Jayawardene to occupy the fifth spot among the highest run-getters in ODIs.
With 12,809 runs, Virat Kohli is now only behind Sachin Tendulkar (18,426), Kumar Sangakkara (14,234), Ricky Ponting (13,704), and Sanath Jayasuriya (13,430).
Moreover, Virat Kohli is the quickest to amass 46 centuries in ODI cricket – a milestone he achieved in just 259 innings. On the other hand, the previous record holder Sachin Tendulkar needed 431 innings to get there.
This was his 10th century against Sri Lanka, making him the first man to score that many tons against a single team in ODIs.
But it is Virat Kohli’s repeated failures in Test cricket, including last month’s disastrous series against Bangladesh, that have left fans and former cricketers, including Sourav Ganguly worried.
His last 10 knocks in Tests have been pathetic, to say the least, and his scores in all these innings read as 1 & 24 vs Bangladesh in the second Test, 19* & 1 vs Bangladesh in the first Test, 20 & 11 vs England, 13 & 23 vs Sri Lanka in the second Test, 45 vs Sri Lanka in the first Test and 29 vs South Africa in the second essay of the third Test.
“He has batted really well – against Sri Lanka, against Bangladesh. He will have to improve in Test cricket because India depends on him and a very crucial series against Australia is approaching which I believe will be a cracker of a contest. I expect it to be very competitive. Both are extremely good teams and it’s quite possible that these two teams go on to play the World Test Championship final,” Sourav Ganguly told Sports Tak.
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