Virat Kohli is my role model, says Babar Azam

It has been a great few weeks for both the Indian and Pakistani batting stalwarts Virat Kohli and Babar Azam, who are making a mockery of the bowling lineups and scoring runs for fun. It was just another day at the office for Babar Azam against New Zealand in the 3rd T20I in Dubai, who registered a match-winning 79 to help his side whitewash the Kiwis.

As one would expect, fans start drawing parallels between India’s best batsman and Pakistan’s best batsman, a tradition that has been going on for years now. The 24-year-old is yet to achieve anything significant to stand on level terms with Kohli, but his recent run suggests he might be on his way.

But Azam belittled all these comparisons a few months ago when he termed the Indian skipper “A legend” and disagreed to comment on this. He once again confessed his admiration for the legendary batsman, who turns 30 today. Azam called him a role model and also confessed that he tries to follow his style of batting.

“My role model is Virat Kohli and I tries to follow his style of batting. The best thing about Kohli is the confidence with which he comes on crease. He has hunger [for runs] and starts his every innings as if he achieved nothing in the innings before,” the young Pakistani batsman said as quoted by Mazher Arshad via his official Twitter handle.

Babar Azam says "his role model is Virat Kohli and he tries to follow his style of batting. The best thing about Kohli is the confidence with which he comes on crease. He has hunger [for runs] and starts his every innings as if he achieved nothing in the inns before." #PakvNZ

— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) November 4, 2018

Catastrophic middle order failure leaves the Kiwis with humiliation

Chasing down a 167 run target, things didn’t commence on a strong note for the Kiwis. Colin Munro and Colin de Grandhomme were dismissed early in the innings, but Kane Williamson showcased his masterclass, who threatened to take the game away from the hosts.

But once he fell for 60 off 38 balls, the New Zealanders fell apart and lost 8 wickets in a span of 23 runs. This helped the hosts win the game by 47 runs and complete a whitewash. Babar Azam was awarded the player of the match award and Mohammad Hafeez commemorates his return with the player of the series award.

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