When it comes to batting across three formats, Virat Kohli is no less than a monster. The Indian skipper has already aggregated 43 one-day international hundreds – only behind the great Sachin Tendulkar (49).
He averages a mind-boggling 59.33 in the 50-over format from 248 matches with 11,867 runs while his T20I average reads 50.80 in 82 games with 2794 runs. Virat has also proved his mettle in Test cricket, scoring 7240 runs at an impressive average of 53.62 from 86 matches including 27 tons.
Considering all these achievements, many cricket fans and pundits have already started labelling Kohli as the greatest batsman of the modern era.
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Another feature of Virat Kohli is his strong leadership, which makes him a complete package as a cricketer. No wonder, legendary England all-rounder Ian Botham wishes to spend a day with the Indian captain.
“Virat is a great ambassador for Indian cricket. He’s competitive and tough. He’s the new Indian cricketer taking the game to the opposition. Virat stands up for his players and I like this quality. He’s buzzing, setting standards, expecting the rest of the team to follow. I would like to spend more time with him, a day with him,” he was quoted as saying by Sportstar.
For Botham, however, England’s ace all-rounder Ben Stokes is the most exciting player in today’s cricket.
Recently, Stokes was named Wisden's leading cricketer in the world for the year 2019. He was integral to England's maiden 50-over World Cup triumph last year and also helped his team draw the home Ashes series with an iconic knock of 135 not out at Headingley.
“You can’t manufacture an all-rounder. The workload on them is double. He’s the most exciting player in world cricket at the moment. I like to think I played in the same vein as Ben,” Botham said about Stokes.
In the end, the 64-year-old Ian Botham cautioned against giving all the importance to T20 cricket.
“T20 has a place on world cricket. It’s a great way to bring the youngsters to play and watch the razzmattaz. But we should be careful international cricket doesn’t get swallowed up by T20. Test cricket is the ultimate. It tests you physically, mentally and puts all kinds of stress on the body as conditions change, pitches change. If we were to lose Test cricket we lose cricket as we know it. T20 essentially is for flat wicket bullies,” he stated.
(Inputs from Sportstar)
