Michael Vaughan Settles Steve Smith vs Virat Kohli Debate
The way India skipper Virat Kohli and his Australian counterpart Steve Smith are constantly churning out runs, the world, Michael Vaughan in particular, seems to be clueless in deciding the best batsmen at the moment. The likes of Kane Williamson and Joe Root are also some of the best batsmen in the world but is safe to say that Kohli and Smith have left their contemporaries far behind. The fact that Smith and Kohli sit atop the ICC rankings of all the formats pretty much makes it clear.
Well, many feel that the race between the best batsman in the world is primarily between Kohli and Smith and while the debate is never ending since both the batsmen are showing no signs of slowing down, former England skipper Michael Vaughan has made an interesting comment on the much-talked-about topic. The cricketer-turned-commentator has said that while Kohli is the best of the lot in all the formats of the game, he is behind Smith in the longest format of the game.
On Friday (December 16), Vaughan took to Twitter, to laud Smith after the Australia star scored his 22nd Test century in the ongoing third Ashes Test at WACA. In his tweet, the former cricketer called Smith the best Test player in the world.
“7th 100 against England … !!! Remarkable player @stevesmith49 … Best Test player in the world !?? #Ashes,” Vaughan wrote.
7th 100 against England … !!! Remarkable player @<!---->s<!---->t<!---->e<!---->v<!---->e<!---->s<!---->m<!---->i<!---->t<!---->h<!---->4<!---->9 … Best Test player in the world !?? #<!---->A<!---->s<!---->h<!---->e<!---->s
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) D<!---->e<!---->c<!---->e<!---->m<!---->b<!---->e<!---->r<!----> <!---->1<!---->6<!---->,<!----> <!---->2<!---->0<!---->1<!---->7
And after some fans started a debate over the tweet, Michael Vaughan posted another tweet, saying:“IMO … @imVkohli is the best player across the 3 formats … But @stevesmith49 is the best in Tests … #OnOn #Ashes … Although I would really like both in the same team …..”
IMO … @<!---->i<!---->m<!---->V<!---->k<!---->o<!---->h<!---->l<!---->i is the best player across the 3 formats … But @<!---->s<!---->t<!---->e<!---->v<!---->e<!---->s<!---->m<!---->i<!---->t<!---->h<!---->4<!---->9 is the best in Tests … #<!---->O<!---->n<!---->O<!---->n #<!---->A<!---->s<!---->h<!---->e<!---->s … Although I would really like both in the same team ….
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) D<!---->e<!---->c<!---->e<!---->m<!---->b<!---->e<!---->r<!----> <!---->1<!---->6<!---->,<!----> <!---->2<!---->0<!---->1<!---->7
Smith, the top-ranked batsman in Tests, went on to convert his century into a double ton to put Australia in the driver’s seat in the ongoing game.
Recently, Kohli, who had scored 11 centuries this year, had also scored two consecutive double centuries in the three-Test series against Sri Lanka. The India skipper, who is the best ODI and T20I batsman in the world, has scored six double centuries in the last one year or so.
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