India vs Pakistan, T20 World Cup: Babar Azam vs Rohit Sharma, who is the more successful T20I captain

The T20 World Cup 2022 is underway in Australia with the qualifying group stage in full swing to confirm the final four participants in the Super 12. However, cricket fans in the subcontinent and indeed across the globe can be forgiven for solely focussing on one blockbuster fixture that is looming on the horizon, i.e. INDIA vs PAKISTAN!

The historic rivalry will resume once again on the world stage with both sides clashing in their tournament opener on October 23 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

While both teams continue to sharpen their tools in the nets ahead of the mega clash, here’s a closer look at the two men who will be leading their respective sides and how they square-up against each other...

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While filling in as a stand-in captain on a number of occasions since 2017, it was only in November 2021 that Rohit Sharma was named India’s full-time white-ball captain.

In total, Rohit has captained India in 45 T20I matches, making him India’s third longest-serving T20I captain, behind Virat Kohli (50 matches) and the legendary MS Dhoni (72 matches).

In contrast, Babar Azam was named Pakistan’s full-time white-ball captain in May 2020. The longer tenure means Babar has overseen more games, having captained Pakistan in 59 T20I matches.

That also makes him the longest-serving captain for Pakistan in the shortest format with Shahid Afridi being next on the list having led Pakistan in 44 T20I matches. In fact, Babar is the current record holder for most consecutive matches as T20I captain, having led Pakistan for 48 matches and counting.

Hence, when it comes to just number of matches as captain, Babar holds the edge over Rohit. However, the proof is always in the pudding! So let’s take a look at how these two fare in terms of win percentage when leading the team...

Rohit is the outright winner when it comes to win percentage having recorded a stunning 35 victories from his 45 matches as captain, losing only on 10 occasions. Babar has just one more win with 36 victories from 59 games, losing 18 games with 5 matches ending with no result.

That means Rohit boasts a far more dominant win percentage of 77.77% as compared to Babar’s 66.66%.

In fact, Rohit has recorded more wins than even Kohli as captain and needs just six more victories to match MS Dhoni’s record of 41 wins as India’s T20I captain. Babar meanwhile remains Pakistan’s outright leader in terms of captains with most wins.

Hence, there's no disputing Rohit's golden touch as captain. The Mumbai-born lad has also shown his supreme captaincy skills in the Indian Premier League (IPL ) where he holds the record of most titles as captain, having led the Mumbai Indians to the IPL crown on five occasions.

Lastly, let's take a look at how the two players have performed in their individual capacities as players while also shouldering the responsibility of leading the team.

Rohit has 1411 runs from 45 T20I matches as captain which means an average of 34.41. This is marginally higher than his overall career batting average of 31.94 in T20Is.

Babar meanwhile has a higher batting average of 40.43 after scoring 1941 runs from 59 matches as captain. This however is lower than his overall career average of 43.66 in T20I cricket.

Both players have also scored two centuries during their time as captains and have picked up five Player of the Match awards, which considering that Rohit has captained on fewer occasions goes in the Indian captain's favour.

Hence in conclusion, while Babar has enjoyed a longer time at the helm, the stats only prove that Rohit has been the more successful of the two in terms of wins and with his individual performances on the field too.

The Indian captain's star is surely on the rise and given the time, he seems on course to nail his spot as one of India's most successful skippers in the shortest format.