Virat Kohli best in the world across formats: Former Australia captain
“India’s had some pretty good batsmen but the comment I made was over the three formats. I was recently asked to pick between Steve Smith and Virat Kohli and I said you can’t pick ahead of Kohli,” Chappell said on the ‘Sony Ten Pit Stop’ show.
The debate goes on. Who is the better batsman: Virat Kohli or Steve Smith? The cricket world may be divided in its opinion for the two champions, and while many believe Kohli is better than Smith in ODIs, there is an equally huge section of people who rate the Australia captain ahead of the Indian skipper when it comes to Test matches. Well, but what if one of them is to be chosen as the best across all formats. Ian Chappell has the answer.
“India’s had some pretty good batsmen but the comment I made was over the three formats. I was recently asked to pick between Steve Smith and Virat Kohli and I said you can’t pick ahead of Kohli,” Chappell said on the ‘Sony Ten Pit Stop’ show.
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“His record in all three formats is incredible; he averages over 50 in T20 cricket which I think is a tremendous feat. So yes, he in my opinion, Kohli is the best batsman at the moment across all three formats.”
The two will once again come face to face later this year, when India tour Australia for a four-Test series, provided the COVID-19 subsides by then. The last time India toured Down Under, they created history by securing a series win in Australia for the first time in 70 years. However, with Steve Smith and David Warner in their ranks, Chappell believes there is only one way India can make it two out of two.
“Australia are pretty hard to beat at home, particularly with the bowling attack they’ve got at the moment. It’s a very strong attack. Australia’s batting, the last time India were here, wasn’t so good. It will be a bit harder this time (for India) with Smith and Warner in the Australian side. If India can keep getting Warner and Smith out cheaply, they can win. If they don’t, the series is Australia’s,” Chappell said.
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The former Australia captain weighed in on Ravi Shastri’s comments, where the head coach backed the Indian team of 1985 – which won the World Championship of Cricket – to give the current Kohli-led side a ‘run for their money’ in a fantasy match-up. Chappell reckons there just might be a way to determine whether it’s true, suggesting a near dream-like crossover.
“A champion from one era would be a champion in any other era. People at home may call me an idiot for saying that the 1985 Indian side could compete with modern cricket, but to make it fair, this is what you’ve got to do,” Chappell explained.
“You either take the cricketers from ‘85 and bring them forward to 2020 and give them all the advantages of the modern-day cricketer or you get today’s players and you carve them back to 1985 and say “right, now you’ve got to play with their equipment and train the same way.’ It’s an argument.”
