T20 World Cup 2026: ‘There is a reason why Virat Kohli sits at the very top’ – Former India batter questions Babar’s impact in IND-PAK games

Ever since Babar Azam failed with the bat against India in the T20 World Cup 2026 clash on Sunday, February 15, at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, experts and fans have criticised the former Pakistan skipper vehemently. Babar threw his wicket away under pressure inside the powerplay at a time when Pakistan needed a resurrection.

Babar has often been compared to Virat Kohli, who is among the greatest to have ever played the sport. However, former India batter Mohammad Kaif brushed the ‘GOAT’ (Greatest of All Time) aside, mentioning how Kohli almost single-handedly won his team the game against Pakistan in the 2022 T20 World Cup, even when the Men in Blue needed 28 runs off the last eight balls.

“Take the Melbourne innings, 28 runs off 8 balls at the death. Babar Azam would struggle to score even 16 off 8 in that situation. That is the difference. You may be happy with the numbers, but against whom were those runs scored, and at what moment? Did they change the game? From that perspective, Virat Kohli is like the Himalayas, sitting at the highest peak, while Babar Azam is on a much smaller mountain. That is the gap,” Kaif was quoted as saying by Sportskeeda.

“Do not focus only on statistics. Match-winning innings matter more. Babar has had many opportunities. I have watched India vs Pakistan games for years, and apart from maybe one or two matches, I do not recall a truly dominant, defining innings from him against India,” he added.

Kaif urged the cricket community not to judge batters just by the number of runs they score. Instead, he asserted that match-winning contributions under pressure should be the key metric in deciding the greatness of a player.

“Do not judge players only by numbers. I do not evaluate a player just by seeing that he has scored 10,000 runs. How many Player of the Match awards have you won? How many impactful innings have you played when your team was in trouble? When Pakistan was losing, did your bat deliver? Against which opposition did you score those runs? In what situation? What was the impact of that innings? Did your team reach the semifinal or the final? Did your team win a trophy because of your batting? There is a reason why Virat Kohli sits at the very top and is regarded as such a great player,” Kaif added.

After Babar’s dismissal, the one-way traffic for India continued. They eventually bowled out Pakistan for 114 in 18 overs, winning the match by 61 runs and sealing their spot in the Super-Eight stage of the marquee event.