Former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes has recently revealed his favourite batsman between the present top two batsmen in Test cricket – Steven Smith and Virat Kohli.
Indian captain Virat Kohli is currently the second-ranked Test batsman and top-ranked ODI batsman. The right-handed batsman is very consistent and that too in every format. Though recently he is slightly struggling to reach the three-figures score, Kohli is still in his top touch.
Meanwhile, after completing his one-year suspension period, Australian cricketer Steven Smith has gradually put himself at an extraordinary level. He got confidence with his good performances in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. Then, he just dominated in the Ashes 2019 in England. The former Aussie captain scored 774 runs (seven innings) in that series with an incredible average of 110.57. Apart from the last innings, he crossed the 75-run mark every other time in the Ashes 2019.
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Despite missing the Test cricket for 16 months, Smith took only three matches after his comeback to regain his no.1 position in the Test batting ranking. To regain this position, Smith overtook Virat Kohli.
Comparing both these high-level cricketers, Jonty Rhodes enjoys the batting of Virat Kohli. Meanwhile, the former South African doesn’t like much Steven Smith’s action and technique but he has also admitted Smith’s consistent performances.
Rhodes told New Indian Express, “I enjoy watching Virat Kohli. Steve Smith, with that action and technique, makes the ugliest hundreds I have ever seen but the man just keeps scoring runs. Someone who likes to watch cricket would want to say ‘Wow! What an amazing shot’ as opposed to ‘Oh! How on earth can he hit that?’ So Virat Kohli right now.”
Jonty Rhodes pointed out his present best fielder among Ravindra Jadeja and Martin Guptill
During his cricket career, Jonty Rhodes was best known for his outstanding fielding. Talking about the best fielders in the present international cricket, Rhodes named the Indian cricketer Ravindra Jadeja and the New Zealand cricketer Martin Guptill. Both of them were the top fielders in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. However, Rhodes has put Guptill on top of this list.
Rhodes said, “Jadeja doesn’t get enough cricket time. Guptill is playing every game. Guptill is great in the slips, great in the covers, great in the boundaries. He is a great all-round fielder, Jadeja has got the X factor. There are really good fielders out there but Guptill for me stands out.”
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Jonty Rhodes also praised the Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah and South African pacer Kagiso Rabada.
He added, “It depends on what you want to do. If you want to knock people down at the start of the game then Rabada, but if you are looking to defend, then Bumrah as he is a specialist.”
Kagiso Rabada is currently the no.2-ranked Test bowler and no.3-ranked ODI bowler. On the other hand, Jasprit Bumrah is the no.3-ranked Test bowler and top-ranked ODI bowler.