Azam's calmness gives him edge over Kohli, says Saqlain Mushtaq

Babar Azam (IANS)

Lahore, June 15: Hailing both as great batsmen, former Pakistan spinner Saqlain Mushtaq stated Pakistan's current white-ball captain Babar Azam's calmness gives him the edge over India skipper Virat Kohli.

Azam has been compared with Kohli a lot in recent times due to their consistent performances with the bat and ability to lead the team from the front.

Although, Saqlain conceded that it is not right to compare the two cricketers considering Kohli has been in the game longer, he did laud Azam's calm persona on the field.

"Both are great players, with a great technique, and are mentally very strong. They have the hunger and passion to score lots of runs," Mushtaq was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.

"Kohli is more aggressive while Babar is humble. Babar's calmness gives him edge over Virat Kohli if we look at what sports science teaches us.

"But comparing Babar with Kohli is unfair because the latter has been performing for a very long time, all over the world," he added.

Saqlain was recently appointed as Head of International Player Development as part of the Pakistan Cricket Board's High Performance Centre's restructuring.

According to a PCB press release, he will be responsible for identifying, developing and preparing players so that they could go on to become world-class cricketers.

"This is a big responsibility for me and I will try to ensure that I leave no box unchecked. Identification of problems and implementation of their solutions will be my top priority while working with PCB," Saqlain said.