WATCH: Australian cricketers pick world’s best batsman

The debate about the best batsman in the world is a never ending one.

All the Australian cricketers named Virat Kohli as the best player in the world currently | AFP

When it comes to batsmanship across all three formats, India skipper Virat Kohli is simply a giant. Virat has scored 37 one-day international hundreds – only behind his batting hero Sachin Tendulkar (49) with 22 of them in run-chases.

He averages a mind-boggling 59.62 in ODIs from 213 matches while his T20I average reads 48.88 in 62 games. Not long ago, Kohli had the average of more than 50 in the shortest format as well. Virat has also proved his mettle in the traditional format of cricket, scoring 6331 runs at an impressive average of 54.58 in 73 matches thus far. He boasts of 24 tons in Tests with 6 of them being double.

On Wednesday (October 24), Kohli became the fastest batsman to breach the 10,000-run mark in the one-day internationals. The Indian captain smashed an unbeaten 157 off 129 deliveries in the second ODI against the West Indies in Vizag and in the process completed 10,000 runs in the 50-over format.

En route his 37th ODI ton, Virat broke a plethora of records. He surpassed Sachin Tendulkar's record to become the quickest to reach 10,000 ODI runs. While Tendulkar had taken 259 innings to achieve this milestone, Kohli accomplished the same in 54 lesser innings than the Master Blaster.  

As the Indian captain added another feather to his cap, former and current Australian cricketers were asked to pick the best batsman in the world at the moment and they had no hesitations in naming Virat.

“Best player in the world right now, in my opinion, is Virat Kohli. Just his all-round skills across all three formats,” former Australia captain Ricky Ponting said.

Besides Ponting, women cricketers Meg Lanning, Elyse Villani, former opener and current Australia coach Justin Langer, Brad Hodge, Andy Maher, Tim Paine named the Indian captain.

Here’s the video:

 
 

By Salman Anjum - 25 Oct, 2018

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