Indian star batter Virat Kohli has recalled his first time meeting Pakistan batter Babar Azam, conveying his admiration for Azam.
Azam has had a great past couple of years which has seen him become one of the finest ODI players in the world as he aims to continue his form ahead of the World Cup later this year- currently ranked at the top of the ICC Men's ODI Batting Rankings with 886 rating points.
On the other hand, Indian superstar Virat Kohli has seen a dip in his form which has seen him drop down to ninth in the ICC Men's ODI Batting Rankings.
Before the two men will be looking to lead their country to glory at the World Cup, they will take on each other on September 2 at the Asia Cup's group stage.
"The first interaction I had with him [Babar] was during the 2019 [ODI] World Cup after the game in Manchester," Kohli recalled in an interview with Star Sports.
"I've known Imad [Wasim] since the Under-19 World Cup, and he 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 from day one, and that hasn't changed," Kohli said. "Regardless of the fact he's probably the top batsman in the world across formats, and rightly so.
"Performs so consistently and I've always enjoyed watching him play," Kohli added.
