Cricketer-turned-commentator Ramiz Raja believes Pakistan batsman Babar Azam has the potential to surpass India captain Virat Kohli but only if he begins plays with a free mind and doesn’t focus on losing.

The 25-year-old Azam has emerged as Pakistan’s best batsman in recent times and currently leads the ICC men’s T20 International rankings. He is also ranked third in One-Day Internationals and fifth in Tests respectively. He is the only man apart from Kohli to feature in top 10 across all three formats.

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Azam and Kohli have drawn multiple comparisons over the recent past due to their influence of winning games single-handed for their countries but Raja feels Azam can emerge as an important player for Pakistan in the long run and go on to become better than Kohli.

“For Babar Azam sky is the limit,” Raja was quoted as saying by a local news channel.

“Until and unless he gets the environment which is encouraging and engaging, he won’t be able to love up to his potential. He has the potential to even beat Virat Kohli but he needs to free up [his mind] and not think about losing. As soon as he does that and thinks about scoring runs and winning, he will remain a great player for a very long time,” he added.

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Azam, had earlier downplayed comparisons between himself and Kohli, stating he was still far away from getting closer to his counterpart.

“Look he (Kohli) has already achieved a lot. He is a legend in his country. Honestly, there is no comparison with me right now but eventually, I also want to get where he is today,” Azam had said.

“The media and people have drawn comparisons between me and Virat Kohli but I realise that I still need to get more runs in red-ball cricket to be ranked among the top players. That is why in recent months I have been focusing a lot on getting consistent scores in Test matches.”