Babar Azam is one cricketer who is regarded is one of the finest batters of the current generation. Voices from the Pakistan cricket community have even gone on to compare him with India’s Virat Kohli, the man with the most number of One Day International (ODI) hundreds to his name. While they are from rival teams and their matchups, although rare, is among the most intense sporting rivalries around the globe, they two of them are known to share a good comraderie.

And now during a recent interview, Babar has revealed that he first interacted with Kohli when India and Pakistan met at the 2019 ODI World Cup in Manchester. Later when Kohli was going through a slump in form, Babar had shared a post on social media in support of the India star. While he did say that his interaction with Kohli has been fruitful in helping him grow as a cricketer, he refused to share specific details of the chat.

“I always try and talk to him whenever we play against each other. I always ask him few questions and he helps me with it. Not only him, I also talk a lot to Steve Smith and Kane Williamson, when we play against Australia and New Zealand, respectively. I had a good chat with Virat Kohli, there are things that we talk about that I can’t share here but it was fruitful,” Babar said in an interview with Zalmi TV.

Babar Azam Reinstated As Pakistan’s White-Ball Captain

Meanwhile, Babar was recently re-appointed as Pakistan’s white-ball captain ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024. Babar replaced Shaheen Shah Afridi as the skipper in the T20I format with the team struggling to find the desired results under his leadership. Notably, Babar was removed as the captain after Pakistan’s ODI World Cup 2023 defeat. While the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had only sacked him as the leader in white-ball cricket, he had resigned as the skipper across formats.