Former Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Yousuf believes Virat Kohli is the best batsman in the world at the moment. In an interview with Sportstar, the 45-year-old said that the India captain has certain attributes that set him apart.
“In today’s times, there are quite a few good players – Rohit Sharma, Joe Root, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson,” said Yousuf. “But Kohli is the best across formats. The way he bats, the way he handles pressure in each innings and scores centuries or the way he plays – that’s unbelievable!”
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Kohli had played 86 Tests, 248 ODIs and 82 T20 Internationals and has scored 7,240, 11,867 and 2,794 runs respectively across the three formats.
While the likes of Kohli, Smith and Williamson have been at the top for a while now, one young batsman who is climbing up the ranks quickly is Pakistan’s Babar Azam. The right-hander has impressed one and all in his four years in international cricket and has become the batting mainstay of his country.
Yousuf, though, believes it’s too soon to compare Azam with Kohli. “Babar is young. Many people compare him with Virat Kohli. But I think it is not ideal because Kohli has played more matches and he is more experienced – since he has been playing international cricket since 2008-2009,” he said.
“Babar still has a long way to go. Both are excellent players, there is no doubt. If you look at the early stages of their career, both follow a similar trend. But Babar will need some more time because Kohli has played about eight or nine years more than him.
“There is no doubt that Babar is a solid batsman, but it’s not right to compare as both are zabardast players in their own domain. Kohli is the No 1 at the moment, he is a great player. But Babar is also catching up and with time, he will gain experience and deliver even better. But you can’t rush things. You must give him more time,” added Yousuf.