‘Virat Kohli is zero, nothing compared to Babar Azam’: Ex-Pakistan coach drops shocking verdict on India star

Babar Azam faced plenty of criticism after Pakistan’s humiliating exit from the ongoing Champions Trophy 2025. Having been selected as hosts, Pakistan were knocked out early after back-to-back defeats to New Zealand and India, and then their match against Bangladesh got washed-out. India's Virat Kohli shares a warm hug with Pakistan's Babar Azam. (Surjeet Yadav)

Against New Zealand, Babar was criticised for his ultra-slow half-century, and he failed to make an impact against India. He ended the tournament with 87 runs in two matches.

Despite Pakistan and Babar’s poor performance, former Pakistan coach and player Mohsin Khan made a huge statement on the batter and compared him to Virat Kohli. Kohli hit the match-winning four vs Pakistan, which also got him to his 51st ODI hundred.

‘Virat Kohli is zero’: Ex-Pakistan coach India star to Babar Azam

Speaking to Ary News, Mohsin said, “First of all, let me tell you one thing. Virat Kohli is nothing compared to Babar Azam; Kohli is zero. We are not talking here about who is a better player and we are talking about Pakistan cricket. Which has been destroyed. There is no planning, no strategies, no merit, and there is no accountability at all. There is no accountability.”

Kohli has registered 133 runs in the ongoing campaign, including a ton. So Mohsin’s statement comes as a surprise for many.

Meanwhile, former Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam dissected Pakistan’s decision to send Babar as an opener, pointing out that it is not his role. “Why on earth will you send him to No. 1? He’s not an opener. No. 3 is the backbone of a batting lineup, and your best bet should come in that position, and he should have been told by the coaches to stay there for the entire duration and get a century. If he got you a hundred and someone else chipped in with 50 or 60-odd, you’d have nearly 300 runs on the board, and that’s how you should be playing. Even Babar should have refused to change his batting position. I don’t know who convinced him to open the innings. It was a bad decision,” he said.

Pakistan are under immense pressure since their Champions Trophy, with pressure mounting on Mohammad Rizwan. There have also been reports that Rizwan could be sacked soon.

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