Virat Kohli vs Babar Azam: The Contest That Might Decide India Vs Pakistan Asia Cup 2023 Clash - What Stats Say

Virat Kohli and Babar Azam - They are two protagonists of the season's first India vs Pakistan clash, an Asia Cup 2023 match set to take place on September 2. Together they are the brightest of batting talents in the sob-continents. They are proven performers for the Indian and Pakistan cricket teams and their performances with the bat will go on to decide the Asia Cup 2023 clash on Saturday in Sri Lanka. The contest will also give the teams confidence ahead of the Cricket World Cup.

Both Virat Kohli and Babar Azam are among the leading run scorers in ODI cricket for the last few years. Since 2015, in ODIs, Virat Kohli has scored most number of runs in the world. In 127 innings, he has scored 6690 at an average of 62.50. In that duration, he has hit 32 half-centuries and 25 hundreds. Virat Kohli is followed by Rohit Sharma. Since 2015, he has scored 6085 runs in 117 innings at an average of 59.10. He has scored 25 centuries and half-centuries.

Babar Azam is third in the list. In 102 innings he has scored 5353 runs at an average of 59.50. He has scored 28 half-centuries and 19 tons.

Kohli is the fifth leading run scorer in ODI history and is now just 102 runs away from becoming the 5th player and second Indian to register 13000 runs in this format. He also has the second most hundreds (46) in ODIs.

None of the four batters who scored 13000 runs in ODIs reached this milestone in less than 300 innings, whereas Kohli has played just 265 innings so far in his ODI career. Kohli will become the fastest player (by innings) to reach 13000 runs in ODIs.

On the other hand, Babar Azam registered his 19th ODI hundred (151) in the opening game of Asia Cup 2023 against Nepal. This was the second highest individual score by any batter