Without an iota of doubt, Indian cricket heartthrob Virat Kohli ranks among the finest cricketers of the modern generation, if not the very best. Kohli is adored by masses all across the globe and now yet another name got added to his already enriched admirers list. This one is special because it’s none other than the former Australian cricketer Dean Jones.
Even though Kohli is copping up with a lot of criticism for his fiery press conference after India’s 135-run defeat in the second Test at SuperSport Park Centurion, Jones said Kohli still remains his favorite modern day player despite all his flaws. The 56-year-old also disclosed that the Indian captain enjoys a huge popularity in Australia.
"He’s my favourite player in the world, and he’s just a great player. The kids want to see him play. Australian kids want to see him play.
"It’s not just ‘I want to watch Steve Smith bat’... We also want to see the best bowlers and best batsmen in the world come and play. We have a voracious appetite for great sport," Jones was quoted by Firstpost as saying.
Kohli is widely deemed as the leading batsmen of modern era and often compared to the likes of Steve Smith, Joe Root and Kane Williamson. The 29-year-old notched up his 21st Test ton during the second Test against South Africa at Centurion.
However, Jones feels the lack of genuine fast bowlers nowadays has played a massive role in boosting the batting stats of all the top-notch contemporary batsmen.
"The ‘Fab Four’ they are at the moment. But at the same time, I just think that bowling standards are down a little bit. The pitches aren’t great for fast bowlers,” opined Jones
"There’s no Steyn, Malcolm Marshall, Holding, Garner, Roberts, Ambrose, Walsh, Kapil Dev, Imran, Waqar, Wasim. There’s none of that coming around. Unfortunately, not many guys are touching 150 in the world as they used to. That’s a fact. Because we’re all playing on different pitches now as well," he further asserted.
Kohli recently climbed one place to occupy the second spot among Test batsmen in the latest rankings released by the International Cricket Council. The Indian captain currently boasts of 900 rating points in the list of Test batsmen. This astonishing feat also makes him the second India batsman after the legendary Sunil Gavaskar to attain the 900 rating points mark.
