Asia Cup 2023: Getting praised by Virat Kohli a proud moment for me, have learned a lot from him - Babar Azam

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Babar Azam has opened up on his admiration for Virat Kohli ahead of the India versus Pakistan clash at the Asia Cup 2023 on September 2 in Pallekele. The 28-year-old has reckoned that getting praised by Virat Kohli stands as one of the proudest moments of his life.

The Lahore-born batting superstar brought up the first hundred of the Asia Cup 2023 on Wednesday. He smashed 151 off 131 balls in the opener to help Pakistan post a mighty 342-run total on the board.

Babar Azam broke two of Virat Kohli's records during the special knock. He became the fastest player to smash 19 ODI hundreds. Babar achieved the feat in his 102nd innings. Earlier, Hashim Amla and Virat Kohli were holding the top two positions. They hit up their 19th hundred in their 104th and 133rd innings respectively.

The right-hand batter also broke Kohli's record for highest by a captain in the Asia Cup. Kohli was holding the record with his 136 against Bangladesh in Asia Cup 2014 in Fatullah.

In a video posted by Star Sports from their archive ahead of the much-awaited Indo-Pakistan clash in the Asia Cup 2023, Babar revealed that he has learned a lot from Kohli. He also talked about his first encounter with Kohli during the 2019 World Cup, saying that the former India captain was gracious and generous in explaining to him the questions asked by him.

"I have learned a lot from Kohli - a big player like Kohli says something good about you, it gives a lot of confidence. It was a proud moment for me," Babar Azam told Star Sports.

"When I met Virat Kohli in 2019. He was at his peak. Now also he is at his peak. I asked him a few questions about the batting approach and he was kind enough to explain to me in so much detail. I got a lot of help from it," he added.

Earlier in 2022, Kohli had called Babar the best player across formats and praised him for his down-to-earth attitude towards him despite achieving so much himself.

"I saw a lot of regard and respect from him from day one. That hasn't changed regardless of the fact that he is the top batsman in world across formats at the moment. I don't see his attitude and approach changing towards me," Kohli had said.

On Saturday, Babar Azam will have the chance to break Kohli's record of fastest to 2000 runs as a captain. Kohli needed 36 innings to score 2000 ODI runs as India captain. Babar is six runs short of the 2000-run mark after 30 ODI innings.