Virat Kohli Is World’s Best Batsmen Currently, Says Jonty Rhodes

Jan 9, 2019 at 4:12 PM

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Virat Kohli Is World’s Best Batsmen Currently, Says Jonty Rhodes

Jonty Rhodes, South African fielding legend, has heaped praise on India’s Test skipper Virat Kohli, rating him as the No. 1 player in the current era, ahead of the top ranked batsmen in Tests, Steve Smith.

“I am standing in India and you would think I am biased, but with the performances Virat Kohli has put in so far and in every format of the game, he has to be the No.1,” Jonty said.

“AB de Villiers has had an operation, so he will be out for a while. I watched Steve. Smith in South Africa and he is okay. Virat is one guy you would like to see heading back to the dressing room if you are the opposition bowler or the fielding team because he is phenomenal. He is a finisher par excellence. At this stage, Virat Kohli is no 1.”

Though Rhodes praised Kohli but he also warned India’s Test skipper by saying it’ll be a challenge for him to maintain his current form in long run as he now has an additional responsibility of leading a side and the ODI captaincy can also come anytime.

“With the amount of cricket Virat Kohli is playing right now (since the IPL has been introduced), it will be tough for him to maintain that sort of consistency over a long period of time. Added to that is the burden of captaincy. So far he has performed really well in the short span as captain and he has done well obviously in the build up to that. But can one maintain that consistency when one has the leadership of the country sitting on one’s shoulders too?,” he added.

When asked Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India’s current limited-overs skipper, he said:

“It is a long time. But have you seen him between the wickets? He is fast as anything and his glove-work is incredible. He is still a great finisher of the game. So you have got a captain with a great deal of experience.

“Sometimes it is more than the guy who scores all the runs. What matters is, what are you are adding in the dressing room? That you can’t buy in a grocery store, you really can’t, that’s what experience is. If you have got that in your team environment, someone who is performing and playing well, also adding that sort of element especially in World Cup situation, it is a great advantage!”.

Well, Dhoni himself has shown interest in playing the 2019 World Cup to be played in England. The next year’s Champions Trophy will be a dress rehearsal for him ahead of the crucial tournament.

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