India and Pakistan will play against each other in the second game of the Asia Cup at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday (August 28). Both sides will face each other for the first time since their meeting in the 2021 T20 World Cup last year at the same venue as well. And, before the game, the Indian and Pakistan players were seen greeting each other and interacting on the sidelines of their training session at the ICC Academy in Dubai. Meanwhile, a video clip went viral on the internet recently that saw Virat Kohli and Babar Azam catching up with each other as well.
While talking about his friendship with Babar Azam, Virat Kohli recalled his first interaction with him. Kohli lavished praise on Babar and referred to him as the ‘top batsman in world cricket’ across formats. The ex-Indian captain also applauded the 27-year-old for not showing any change in his attitude or approach despite the success he has achieved in recent times as well.
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“The first interaction I had with him was the 2019 World Cup after the game in Manchester. Him and Imad (Wasim). Imad I have known since Under-19 cricket, we have played against each other and Imad said Babar wanted to have a chat. We sat down and spoke about the game. I saw a lot of regard and respect from him and that hasn’t changed regardless of the fact that he is probably the top batsman in the world right now across formats, performing so consistently,” Virat Kohli said in an interaction with Star Sports.
“And rightly so, he has amazing talent and I have always enjoyed watching him play. So that hasn’t changed. He is performing now and he is coming into his own, but I don’t see his attitude or his approach change towards me, which is a very good sign of someone who is very grounded in his foundations of his upbringing,” Kohli further added.
Virat Kohli again stated that players like Babar inspire a lot of people. While talking about their interaction prior to the Asia Cup, Kohli revealed that he congratulated Babar for his recent form and he is the sort of player that is needed to keep the game exciting as well.
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“His cricketing foundations as well are very solid. So these kinds of players, these kind of characters go a long way and inspire a lot of people. And I see that happening with him as well. I congratulated him yesterday on how he’s been playing and told him how amazing to watch it is and I wish him all the best. And he deserves all of this. And eventually you need to have players like him to keep world cricket exciting,” Virat Kohli concluded.
