Kane Williamson Should Have Been Greatest Player If He Was An Indian – Michael Vaughan
May 14, 2021 at 1:59 PM
Michael Vaughan, former England captain has earned quite the recognition in recent times for making some debatable comments on social media against Indian cricket.
Michael Vaughan has taken plenty of dig against Virat Kohli’s men and the pitches offered in the Test series during England’s visit to India. Presently, the 46-year old has commented that Kane Williamson is behind Virat Kohli only because he is not an Indian.
Michael Vaughan: If Kane Williamson Was Indian He Would Have Been Greatest Player In The World
Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson are part of the fab four alongside Steve Smith and Joe Root, with Babar Azam rapidly getting up there. Both Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson have earned the respect of the cricket fraternity for scoring tons of runs across the formats over the years and being the lynchpin of their respective batting line-ups.
India and New Zealand skipper duo would lock horns on the 18th of June in the mouth-watering ICC World Test Championship’s final set to take place in Southampton.
Michael Vaughan commented that if Kane Williamson was an Indian, he would have been the greatest in the world which drew plenty of flak in the social media. The 2005 Ashes-winning captain feels that most people say Virat Kohli is the best to get more likes and followers. He claimed that Kane Williamson is equally the best all-format player and admired the Kiwi skipper for his humility and calmness at whatever he does.
“If Kane Williamson was Indian, he would be the greatest player in the world. But he’s not because you’re not allowed to say that Virat Kohli is not the greatest, because you’d get an absolute pelting on social media.
“So, you all say Virat is the best purely to get few more clicks and likes, few more numbers following here. Kane Williamson, across formats, is equally the best. I think the way he plays, the calm demeanour, his humbleness, the fact that he is silent about what he does,” Vaughan told Spark Sport.
Michael Vaughan also said that Virat Kohli has struggled in the English conditions and against the moving ball for the most part barring the 2018 tour, whereas Kane Williamson has been successful.
Michael Vaughan: Kane Williamson Is Up There With Great Players Across All Formats And Certainly Matches Virat Kohli
The former English middle-order batsman feels that Kane Williamson remains one of the greatest all-format batsmen today and is up there with Virat Kohli. Michael Vaughan conceded that his social media popularity and his commercial earnings through endorsements are far less than Virat Kohli’s. But, he backs the New Zealand skipper to emerge with more runs in three Tests than his Indian counterpart, who plays six Tests in the upcoming English summer including WTC Final.
“I think recently, a lot of pundits have been shouting for him, whether he likes that or not, I’m not too sure. In English conditions, against the moving ball, Virat did enjoy success the last time he came in, but other than that he has struggled.
“Kane Williamson has mostly had success. I’m not just saying it because I’m speaking to you guys in New Zealand but I think Kane Williamson is right up there with the great players across the three formats and certainly matches Virat Kohli. “
“It’s just that he doesn’t have the 100 million followers on Instagram and doesn’t earn the $30-40 million or whatever Virat gets every year for his commercial endorsements. But in terms of quality and what he brings on the pitch and his consistency, I wouldn’t back against Kane Williamson getting more runs. I think Kane may score a few more runs than Virat this summer,” he added.
Virat Kohli has aggregated 7,490 runs from 91 Tests at a remarkable average of 52.37. The impressive tally includes 27 tons, joint-highest in the format among active cricketers, with Steve Smith. Virat Kohli also owns a record seven double-tons in Tests.
His highest score of 254* came against South Africa in 2019. Kane Williamson has scored 7,115 runs from 83 Tests with the best score of 251. In fact, Kane Williamson has a better Test average than Virat Kohli (54.31). He owns 24 tons and four double-centuries.