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England leg-spinner Adil Rashid has weighed in on a popular cricket debate, picking Pakistan’s Babar Azam over India’s Virat Kohli for having the more aesthetically pleasing cover drive.
Speaking on the Beard Before Wicket podcast alongside fellow England cricketer Moeen Ali, Rashid was asked a fan-favourite question: who has the better-looking cover drive—Kohli or Babar?
Moeen passed the question over to Rashid, noting with a smile, “He’s a big fan of Babar, you know.”
After a short pause, Rashid answered, “I think Babar’s cover drive,” before adding, “but otherwise, Kohli’s straight drive and his whip are something else.”
Rashid’s comment suggested his admiration was more about the elegance of the shot than the player himself.
Moeen later offered his own take on the debate and gave a slight edge to Kohli’s cover drive.
This is not the first time Rashid has shown his preference for Babar. In a 2020 interview with At the Crease TV, the leg-spinner had also chosen Babar over Kohli when asked who was the better batsman at the time.
“It is a tough one that. So if you go on current form, I think I got to go with Azam. That’s current form I’m talking about. I picked Azam because he is in better form but they both are world-class players anyway,” Rashid had said.
Babar Azam, who captained Pakistan in three straight ICC Men’s T20 World Cups (2021, 2022, and 2024), has not featured in a T20I match since December 2024.
He missed the T20I series against New Zealand in March and was also not included in the three-match T20I series against Bangladesh that began on May 28 in Lahore.
Once considered Pakistan’s most reliable T20 batter, Babar has faced criticism for his recent form. His last T20I half-century came in May 2023, when he scored 75 against Ireland.
In his T20I career, Babar has played 128 matches, scoring 4,223 runs at an average of 39.83, including three centuries and 36 fifties.
