Shane Warne picks his best among Virat Kohli and Steven Smith in Test format

Legendary leg-spinner Shane Warne has picked his national side skipper Steven Smith and Indian captain Virat Kohli among the world best batsmen, but he further rates the former above than batting mainstay from the subcontinent in the Test fold.

“To me Steve Smith is the best Test batsman in the world,” Warne in his column for News Corp wrote.

It’s important to point out that the 48-year-old cricket-turned-commentator Warne believes Smith has got the better of Kohli when it comes to the traditional format.

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However, Warne reiterated the modern-day 29-year-old Indian batsman Kohli stand out on the top when it comes to across the formats contest in the gentleman’s game.

“Virat Kohli is the best across all three formats of the game, but across five days, Smith is the man,” Warne added.

Warne went on to consider the 28-year-old Smith is having a stellar run while donning the white which subsequently saw the former picking world’s 11 best batsmen on the best list.

On the other side, the reason Warne set was the right-handed batsman Kohli’s disastrous England tour in 2014.

It’s pertinent to mention that Kohli managed to post just 134 runs in 10 innings of the five-Test fixtures. His highest score was 39, as he collected runs at the unimpressive average of 13.40.

“The hole in Kohli’s CV on the Test match stage is in England and the pressure is on the fiery but very likeable Indian to carry over some double-ton magic from home soil to that country when his team tours next year,” Warne mentioned.

In 63 Tests, Kohli amassed 5,268 runs at an average of 53.75. He smashed 20 hundreds and 15 fifties, as Smith featured in 59 Tests for Australia in which he scored 5796 runs at an average of 62.32. He smashed 22 hundreds and 21 fifties.

However, Warne observed Smith, who has averaged over 43 in the United Kingdom, has smashed three hundreds in England during the Ashes campaign, as the unorthodox in style further scored heavily during the ongoing Ashes 2017-18.

“To me, a great batsman has to have made a hundred in three key countries: in England, against the Duke ball on seaming and swinging pitches; in Australia, on our fast-paced, bouncy tracks,” Warne further added.

Interestingly, the list includes Smith and his counterpart Kohli at the 10^th and 11th place, as Warne see best in the New South Wales-based star top-order batsman.

“And of course, in the dust bowls of India, on pitches that spin and spit,” Warne wrote on Smith.

With Kohli and Smith, who are known for amassing runs at will and have simultaneously shouldered the responsibility even in the difficult situations for the respective teams from time-to-time.

The first two positions were claimed by the Windies’ Viv Richards and batting stalwart Brian Lara, as legendary Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar is placed at the third position.

Interestingly, Warne feels Greg Chappell is fourth on the list alongside former skipper Ricky Ponting and Allan Border.

Former South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis is seventh on the list with England’s Graham Gooch sealing the eighth spot, as known for his pyrotechnics AB de Villiers has earned the ninth place.

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Since making his debut in 1992, Warne played 194 One-day Internationals, 145 Tests. He bagged 708 Test scalps in 273 innings, and 293 wickets in 191 innings of 194 ODIs.