Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen believes Indian captain Virat Kohli is miles ahead of Steven Smith. In the modern era, Kohli and Smith are often compared with each other. Pietersen believes Kohli is a ‘freakshow’ as his chasing record is insane whereas Smith is not even close to him. In fact, it is prudent to say that many believe that Smith is a better Test batsman than Kohli but there is a day and night difference between Kohli and Smith in the white ball version.
Kohli has scored 43 centuries for the Indian team in the 50-overs version of the game. The talisman has scored 26 centuries out of these 43 centuries while batting int the second innings. Kohli is known for his chasing skills and he has made a name for himself as a ‘chase master’.
Kohli is the chase master.
The right-hander knows how to go after the target and he mostly gets his team over the line in a run-chase. In fact, Kohli has redefined batting in the last few years. The linchpin has scored 7039 runs in 134 ODI innings at an average of 68.33 while he is chasing the target. Consequently, it goes to show how consistent Kohli has been in the ODI fold.
When asked to pick one between Kohli and Smith, Pietersen said while talking to Pommie Mbangwa on Instagram live interaction, “Kohli is a freakshow, his record chasing winning games for India with the amount of pressure he lives under, Smith does not even come close to him”.
On the other hand, Virat Kohli is also likened with his idol, Sachin Tendulkar. The former legendary batsman scored 100 centuries in International cricket and Kohli is expected to leapfrog Sachin as he has already scored 70 centuries. Pietersen once again went with Kohli when he was asked to pick one between the Indian captain and Sachin Tendulkar.
Virat Kohli is miles ahead.
“Again, Virat because of his chasing numbers. His chasing numbers are frightening, he averages more than 80 when it comes to chasing, he consistently wins games for India, he keeps on turning the numbers, and this matters to me as to how many games you win for your country,” Pietersen said.
Virat Kohli has produced great numbers for the Indian team in the last decade. There is no qualm that he is the most consistent batsman in all the three forms of the game. Kohli is the solitary International batsman to average more than 50 in all the three versions of the game. Thus, he would like to continue in a similar fashion.
