Virat Kohli or Babar Azam? Let's Check Recent Numbers Ahead of IPL 2025 Season

IPL 2025: Ahead of the brand new season of the IPL , former New Zealand cricketer Ian Smith has picked who is better - Virat Kohli or Babar Azam ? This is an ongoing debate in cricket and for years fans and plaudits have been taking sides. Smith, who has a very good understanding of the game, weighed in on the debate. Admitting that Kohli is in recent times better than Babar, Smith also went onto analyse the struggles in Pakistan cricket. 

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“They [Pakistan] throw Babar Azam up against Virat Kohli, as king against king. But of late, Virat is winning that head-to-head,” Smith wrote.

“Pakistan players can’t play in the IPL and earn those riches, or in fact, many of the leagues around the world which are principally Indian-owned,” Smith noted.

‘It’s a volatile environment, Pakistan cricket’ 

“It’s a volatile environment, Pakistan cricket. They’ve had more personnel changes amongst the board, the administrators, the selectors, coaches, and players than you can poke a stick at,” he wrote further. 

Kohli vs Babar Numbers 

In the last five innings, Babar Azam does not have good numbers apart from a fifty-plus score against New Zealand in the first game of the Champions Trophy 2025. He scored 64 off 90 balls, an innings for which he received massive criticism. Against India in the CT 2025 game, he scored 23 off 26 balls. He perished after getting his eye in. 

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On the other hand, Kohli, who came into CT 2025 with not a lot of runs behind him, came good against arch-rivals Pakistan. He hit an unbeaten century to take India over the line against Pakistan. That knock is being labelled as his best-ever. Kohli would soon be seen playing for RCB in the upcoming season of the IPL.