Gautam Gambhir Explains What Makes Virat Kohli The Best Batsman In Limited-Overs Cricket

A day after acknowledging Virat Kohli’s need to achieve a lot as captain, Gautam Gambhir has hailed him amongst the best limited-overs batsmen, head and shoulders above his competitors. Gautam Gambhir pit the Indian captain against the likes of Ab de Villiers, Chris Gayle, and his limited-overs deputy Rohit Sharma, revealing what separates Virat Kohli from them.

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The 31-year old is easily the best across formats at present and would undoubtedly be known as one of the greatest when he retires. While Virat Kohli has proved himself as a giant in all three versions, One-day international cricket is by far his strongest suit. The 248 ODIs have produced a tally of 11867 runs at an average of nearly 60 with 43 centuries. The Delhi-batsman looks well in sight of breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most ODI runs and tons.

As far as Gautam Gambhir is concerned, he believes that Kohli’s consistent strike-rotation along with playing the big shots separates him from the rest. Kohli is undeniably one of the fittest cricketers today and boasts the ability to sprint between the wickets, collecting the 1s and 2s with ease. He admits that Rohit, Gayle, and De Villiers all can hit the big shots at will; however, they cannot frequently rotate the strike, unlike Kohli.

“That’s why he’s (Virat Kohli) different from the rest. You look at Rohit Sharma. He does not have the quality which Virat Kohli has, of rotating the strike. Rohit Sharma has those big shots, but that’s why Virat is more consistent than Rohit. Chris Gayle doesn’t have that ability to rotate the strike, AB de Villiers doesn’t have the ability to rotate strike off each delivery against spin-bowling, Virat Kohli has that, and that’s why he averages over 50.” the 38-year-old said in the show Cricket Connected

That’s what Virat Kohli does really well: Gautam Gambhir

The cricketer-turned-politician continued by saying that there are a very few players today who can rotate the strike off every ball and Virat Kohli is one of them. As far as playing big shot goes, Gautam Gambhir feels that it might pay off at times or else the batsmen can find themselves back in the pavilion. However, keeping the scoreboard ticking always keeps you in the game.

“People do not give a lot of importance to dot balls. If you play fewer dot balls, you can reduce a lot of pressure. The easiest thing to do in cricket is a six or a four. Because ultimately, you are playing that high-risk shot. If it comes off, everyone loves it. If it doesn’t come off, you’ll probably be back in the pavilion. But there are very few cricketers in world cricket who can rotate the strike off every bowl. That’s what Virat Kohli does really well.” the retired batsman added.

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