He Has A Knack Of Saying Things That Stir Up A Debate - Salman Butt Says Michael Vaughan's Comparison Of Virat Kohli With Kane Williamson Is 'Irrelevant'

Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt reckons Michael Vaughan’s recent comments on Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson need to be given any attention.

Ahead of the World Test Championship final between India and New Zealand, the former England captain had said that people pick Kohli as the best batsman, and better than Williamson, because they want to get likes from the Indian skipper’s huge fanbase in India and across the world. Vaughan also predicted that Williamson will score more runs than Kohli in the upcoming English summer.

Salman Butt, the disgraced Pakistan captain who was handed a 5-year ban for involvement in the 2010 spot-fixing scandal, opines that Vaughan always looks to initiate a debate on social media, and believes the assessment from a batsman who doesn’t have a single ODI ton in 86 games of Virat Kohli, who has 70  international hundreds, is irrelevant.

“And who has compared the two? Michael Vaughan. He was a brilliant captain for England, but the beauty at which he used to bat, his output wasn’t on par. He was a good Test batsman but Vaughan never scored a single century in ODIs.

“Now, as an opener, if you haven’t scored a century, it’s not worth discussion. It’s just that he has a knack of saying things that stir up a debate. Besides, people have a lot of time to stretch a topic,” Salman Butt said on his YouTube channel.

“Williamson is great. He’s a top-class batsman and the best in the world. There is no doubt. Williamson may take the points in terms of captaincy, but he (Vaughan) hasn’t discussed captaincy. In terms of players, there is a huge cap.

“Kohli’s stats and performance and the way he has won India matches, especially chasing, it’s outstanding. Since the time both are playing, no one has been as consistent as Kohli. What Vaughan has said is irrelevant,” he added.

I don’t understand what and where is the need to draw comparisons: Salman Butt

While Williamson is often considered in the same league as Virat Kohli – the much talked about Fab 4 – Salman Butt figures that the Indian skipper, with his consistency, is miles ahead of the Kiwi skipper – Kohli’s 70 international tons to Williamson’s 37 advocates for that.

“Kohli belongs to a country which has a huge population. Obviously, he would have a bigger fanbase. On top of that, his performance is better too. Virat has 70 international tons at the moment, no other batsman from this era has that many.

“And he has, for a long period, dominated the batting rankings because his performances have been outstanding. So I don’t understand what and where is the need to draw comparisons,” the former opener further stated.

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