There is nothing sports fanatics like more than a debate about defining who is the best. From Federer vs Nadal, Messi vs Ronaldo, these are the discussions which take place across every sport and the nation that plays the game. Cricket has been no different with fiery debates among fans from time immemorial like between Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara or more contemporary ones like comparisons between the likes of Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis, Younis Khan and Rahul Dravid.
The current generation isn’t one that is any different with two Indian batsmen dominating the world cricket. From the last couple of years, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been on the top in white-ball cricket. They have become the mainstay of Indian batting and been the catalyst in leading the Men in Blue to numerous wins. Kohli and his deputy Rohit in the limited-overs format have often earned comparisons with each other.
The success of the two has sparked comparisons, especially with Rohit’s rapid rise in the shorter formats. Former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed shared his opinion on the subject in a recent interview to Anis Sajan on his show Cricket Talk.
Sarfaraz picked Kohli has his favourite mentioning the latter’s success in red-ball cricket.
“In today’s time, there should be no doubt; it is Virat Kohli, who’s the world’s number 1 batsman. But, as I have told you before that when I have been behind the wicket, I have felt that although Rohit Sharma does not have that many runs in Test matches, the timing that he has is great. But the number one player in the world is definitely Virat Kohli. Nobody can match him,” Sarfaraz was quoted as saying to Anis.
Sarfaraz was Pakistan’s captain when the Men in Green shocked the Kohli-led Indian side in the 2017 Champions Trophy final. Pakistan thrashed their arch-rivals India by 180 runs in the summit clash at the Kennington Oval in London. The victory ensured Pakistan first-ever Champions Trophy triumph as India failed to defend the trophy they won in 2013.
