Babar Azam misses out in former Indian cricketer’s top 5 T20I batters in 2022; Virat Kohli at three

The incredible comeback by Virat Kohli in 2022 was one of the sport’s top moments. Prior to the Asia Cup 2022, the former India captain was going through a hard time. Since 1020 days had passed since his last international century, he had not been his normal run-machine self. When he scored his 71st century against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup 2022 super four stages, the century drought was over.

After that, there was no turning back as the superstar batter tore through the 20-20 World Cup 2022, finishing with 296 runs in six matches at an amazing average of 98.66 to finish as the highest run-getter in the competition. As the year 2022 comes to a close, Kohli is second for India in T20I runs and sixth in ODI runs.

Aakash Chopra, a former India opener, praised Kohli’s turnaround from dreadful form to peak performance. Chopra listed Kohli in third place among the top five T20I batters for 2022 on his YouTube channel.

Going by the stats, Babar Azam should be the No.5 but I am not including him in my list: Aakash Chopra

He identified the top five batters as Devon Conway, Mohammad Rizwan, Sikander Raza, Virat Kohli, and Suryakumar Yadav, based on statistics from 2022 and his own analysis. Chopra was all praise for Kohli and emphasised his amazing stats and performances in 2022 under challenging circumstances.

“Nobody would have imagined that Virat Kohli would find a place on this list. He struggled for form for years altogether, and his performances were quite underwhelming in the Indian T20 League too. Everything was going wrong for him,” said Chopra.

“However, by the end of 2022, he has turned things around in remarkable fashion. In T20Is this year, Kohli has scored 781 runs in 20 matches at an average of 55.78 with a strike rate of 138.23. He was outstanding during the 20-20 World Cup. The pitches were quite challenging against Pakistan and England during the World Cup, but he still managed to score,” he added.

Despite Babar Azam being the fifth-highest run scorer in T20Is in 2022, Chopra excluded him from the top five list. He also explained the reason behind it to the audience.

“Going by the stats, Babar Azam should be the No.5 but I am not including him in my list. He has scored 735 runs in 26 matches and his average is only 32 and strike rate merely 123. Sorry! but I can’t take him in my team. I am including Devon Conway’s name instead at his place. Conway’s numbers in T20Is in 2022 are unbelievable, had he played more matches in the format this year, he would have overtaken SKY(Suryakumar Yadav) to claim the top position,” said Chopra.