The comparisons in cricket is not a new thing. Be it greatest batsmen or finest bowlers, every individual has to go through with judgements. Most famous was the competition between Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara. Both were legends and geniuses in their era’s but had to go through the assessments regarding who was the best amongst the two.
The pattern continues in modern-day cricket as well, and the players on the radar are Virat Kohli and Steve Smith. The duo has been compared with each other so many times. Some believe Kohli is the maestro, while some say Smith is the top-class batsman.
Latest to drop thoughts on the topic is former Australian Ian Chappell. While speaking to sports presenter Raunak Kapoor, Chappell picked the best between Kohli and Smith in both batting and captainship skills.
The 76-year-old went with Indian skipper Kohli and stated that not only the latter is a better batsman than Smith but also one step ahead in captaincy.
When asked to pick between Kohli and Smith in a rapid-fire by Raunak, Chappell first questioned, “As captain or batsman?” To which Raunak said, “You tell me.” The South Australian then said: “I’d take Kohli both ways, as captain and batsman.”
Smith, who recently leapfrogged Kohli to regain the top spot in ICC Test batsmen rankings, has so far played 73 Tests, 125 ODIs and 39 T20Is for Australia, in which the Sydney-born cricketer has amassed 7227, 4162, and 681 runs, respectively.
Kohli, on the other hand, has appeared in 86 Test matches, 248 ODIs and 82 T20Is, in which the ‘run-machine’ has stockpiled 7240, 11867, and 2794 runs, respectively. The Delhi-born has also smashed 70 centuries in international cricket which is the third-highest tally after Sachin Tendulkar (100) and Ricky Ponting (71).
