Indian captain Virat Kohli and New Zealand captain Kane Williamson are not only the leaders of the top two Test teams in the world currently in the ICC rankings, but both are also rated highly among the best batsmen produced by their respective countries.
Williamson has scored over 15,000 runs in international cricket with 37 centuries across formats while Kohli has accumulated nearly 23,000 international runs with 70 centuries. The two are part of the famous 'Fab 4' of the world with Steve Smith and Joe Root also very highly skilled performers for Australia and England respectively.
It is natural to have comparisions when you have such high quality players in the prime of their careers at the same time. Cricket experts and fans often indulge in judging who is the best batsman in certain formats as well as across formats at the top level. Virat Kohli is one name that often gets taken in such debates.
Former England captain, Michael Vaughan feels Williamson deserves to be rated as highly as Kohli, but he isn't because the latter is an Indian. India enjoys a dominating position in world cricket due to the money they bring to the game as well as the huge number of fans of the team worldwide.
“If Kane Williamson was Indian, he would be the greatest player in the world. But he’s not because you’re not allowed to say that Virat Kohli is not the greatest, because you’d get an absolute pelting on social media. So, you all say Virat is the best purely to get few more clicks and likes, few more numbers following here. Kane Williamson, across formats, is equally the best. I think the way he plays, the calm demeanour, his humbleness, the fact that he is silent about what he does,” Vaughan told Spark Sport.
He added, “Kane Williamson has mostly had success. I’m not just saying it because I’m speaking to you guys in New Zealand but I think Kane Williamson is right up there with the great players across the three formats and certainly matches Virat Kohli. It’s just that he doesn’t have the 100 million followers on Instagram and doesn’t earn the $30-40 million or whatever Virat gets every year for his commercial endorsements.”
Kohli and Williamson will be up against each other in the ICC World Test Championship final in Southampton from June 18. It will be an opportunity for the two batting greats to prove decisively who is ahead as far as the longest format goes.
