Virat Kohli vs Babar Azam is a debate that takes centre stage in the world of cricket more often than not.  

Babar's batting led Pakistan to 306/5 with four balls to spare with a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. The second game will be played Friday with the last one scheduled for Sunday.

Babar Azam landed himself in a massive controversy after the Pakistan captain flouted the policies of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and brought his younger brother to Lahore's High-Performance Centre.  

Kohli has slipped to 10th on the ICC rankings, the Indian great continues to hold a remarkable Test batting record.

Pakistan test players have started a training camp in Karachi under the supervision of Mushtaq and batting coach Mohammad Yousuf. They'll shift to Rawalpindi later this month.

The 27-year-old Azam, who clinched the ICC ODI Cricketer of 2021 award, scored 405 runs in six games at an average of 67.50 in 2021.

The 27-year-old was the second-highest run-scorer with 228 runs and was the Player of the Match in both of Pakistan's wins in the 2-1 series victory against South Africa.

Babar said beating India for the first time in a World Cup match was the high point for him in 2021. Pakistan defeated India by 10 wickets in the lopsided match.

West Indies Twenty20 squad already miss several top performers -- including 3 COVID-19 positive players -- for the three-match Twenty20 series which will be followed by three ODIs.

Pakistan won eight of their nine T20Is, which included victories in all the group matches at the ICC T20 World Cup, and two Tests in Bangladesh.

The bad light ended play with Babar batting on 60 and Azhar Ali on 36.

South Africa's Aiden Markram and Anirch Nortje and Sri Lanka's Charith Asalanka and Wanindu Hasaranga were the players whose teams didn't qualify for the semi-finals but fore the ICC team.

After Pakistan suffered a five-wicket defeat, courtesy Wade's sensational three consecutive sixes off Shaheen Shah Afridi in the 19th over, Babar had said at the post-match presentation that the scenario of the match could have been different had the catch been taken.  

Wade was on 21 from 13 balls when Ali dropped his catch at cow corner on the bowling Shaheen Afridi. The left-hand batsman went on to score 41 runs in 17 balls with three back to back sixes in the 19th over. 

Pakistan's Australian batting consultant Matthew Hayden has no doubt that Virat Kohli has so far achieved a lot more than the younger Babar Azam but the Pakistan skipper is second to none.

Babar Azam has led the Pakistan team well in the ongoing T20 World Cup and doesn't need to do anything differently in the semi-final against Australia on Thursday, PCB chairman and former skipper Ramiz Raja said on the eve of the game.

Ahead of India's final T20 World Cup game against Namibia, Shastri had said that his players were mentally and physically exhausted after six months of bubble life and a longer break between IPL and the ICC event would have served them better.

Sri Lanka's Wanindu Hasaranga sits atop the bowling rankings for the first time in his career.

Pakistan captain Babar Azam is in the form of his life. Cricket fanatics are in awe with his stunning show in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup, as he looks unstoppable!

Babar Azam's team would be eyeing another big scalp in New Zealand, the team which recently withdrew from a scheduled series against Pakistan after landing there, citing a security threat that, according to the host country, did not exist.