When you talk about the current great batsmen in the world, two names are sure to pop in everyone's mind - Virat Kohli and Steve Smith.
When you talk about the current great batsmen in the world, two names are sure to pop in everyone's mind - Virat Kohli and Steve Smith.
The two have been dominating the rankings and have been fighting for the top spot. The Virat Kohli vs Steve Smith debate has even risen to the stature of Sachin Tendulkar vs Brian Lara.
While fans still fight over who is great - India’s Virat Kohli or Australia’s Steve Smith - former South Africa captain AB de Villiers gave a unique approach to the debate.
While de Villiers did not mention who he thinks is the better batsman, he, however, compared them with Tennis greats Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
The South African talisman believes his Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Kohli is a natural talent and makes him a cricketing equivalent of Roger Federer while Steve Smith’s mental fortitude matches that of Rafael Nadal.
In an Instagram chat with former Zimbabwe seamer Pommie Mbangwa, de Villiers said the two batsmen are easily the game’s biggest crowd-pullers right now.
“It’s a difficult one, but Virat is definitely the more natural ball-striker, there’s no doubt about that,” de Villiers said during his interaction on Sports Hurricane.
“In tennis terms, I’d say he’s more like a (Roger) Federer whereas Smith is like a (Rafael) Nadal. Smith is mentally very strong and figures out a way of scoring runs - he doesn’t look natural, but he ends up writing records and doing amazing things at the crease.
“I think mentally, Smith is one of the best I have ever seen. Virat has also scored runs all over the world and won games under pressure,” de Villiers, himself a modern-day great, said.
When it comes to rankings, Smith currently holds the top spot in Test cricket followed by Virat Kohli. The Indian captain is No.1-ranked batsman in ODIs and finds himself at No.10 in T20Is.
Kohli averages over close to 60 in ODIs with 43 hundreds - the second most - and 11867 runs and in Test cricket he has 7240 runs in 83 matches with 27 hundreds. Smith, on the other hand, has 7227 runs in 73 Tests at an average of 62.84.
de Villiers also spoke about the friendly Kohli who has interests beyond cricket and is spiritual at one level.
“He’s much deeper than just a cricket player...I think most people realise after a while that there’s more to life than just cricket,” de Villiers said. “...Virat’s always been a thinker, he experiments (with) a lot of things, he loves trying new things out - gym wise, what he puts in his mouth. He thinks a lot about life after life - what’s to come, the different religions, we talk about everything.”
The two have a unique bond on and off-field due to their Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise.
“Obviously, when it comes to the IPL in India, it’s been more than friendship,” De Villiers said when asked who his best friends in cricket are.
“Virat obviously - not only during the IPL, we chat throughout the year, which means it’s different than just the IPL or cricketing friendship.”
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 "Steve Smith and Virat Kohli")
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