"Babar Azam No.2" In Tests, Says Shane Watson; Picks This Indian As No. 1 Batter

With Babar Azam's continuous rise in world cricket, many experts have labelled the Pakistan cricket team captain as the finest batter on current form. In ICC rankings, Babar is the No. 1 batter in ODIs and T20Is while he is No.3 in Tests. He is the only batter to be among the top-three in all three formats. He is also being compared with former India captain Virat Kohli. However, Shane Watson, in conversation with Isa Guha on the ICC Review, picked Kohli as the best Test batter.

Incidentally, in the official ICC rankings, Kohli is currently not even among the top-10 in Tests.

"Test match cricket, I am always going to say Virat Kohli. His ability to just maintain that range, he continues to maintain the range in all formats. He has got such high intensity every time he goes out there to play for India. So, in Test cricket, yes Virat Kohli (in Test cricket)," Watson said.

"One thing with Steve Smith is that he has started to come off a little bit. It looks like Steve Smith is not putting as much pressure on the bowlers as he did when he was at his absolute best. So, for me, Steve sort of dropped down on that list a little bit. Babar Azam is now playing just incredibly well. We have to see how he has adapted his game to Test cricket as well. So, Babar Azam would probably be No.2 at the moment. Kane Williamson, he has had a few elbow issues, he knows his game inside out. He can put pressure on bowlers in any conditions. Joe Root - he has had bit of time along the lines of Steve Smith."

Kohli has so far played 102 Tests scoring 8074 runs at an average of 49.53 while Babar has played 42 Tests scoring 3122 runs at an average of 47.30.

Topics mentioned in this article

Pakistan Cricket Team India Cricket Team Virat Kohli Babar Azam Shane Watson Cricket