At present, Test cricket is dominated by a handful of batsmen, who have amassed records just for fun. Among the most elite batsmen of this modern era are Joe Root and Virat Kohli. These hunks are the spines of their respective batting lineups and that was evident in the recent Test series between India and England.
Kohli and Root both had an absolute ball in the middle as they scored runs with complete ease and grace. While Kohli hit 655 runs with an average exceeding 100, Root wasn’t far behind either as he raked up a fifty plus score in each Test of the series. Former England all- rounder and legend Ian Botham has apparently stated Root and Kohli are the best batsmen of this generation.
“The two best players in the series have been Root and Kohli,” Botham said. “They have almost the same record. One thing Virat will want to do is score runs in England. He averages 14 there. So he would want to put that right. He is a winner and wants to put that to bed. Similarly, Root has 11 fifties, but not many hundreds. So these two will be the stand out players in cricket for the next five years, but it’s tough to say who is better, especially after a series in India. They will be number one and two.”
Botham added if Kohli ever opted to play in the county circuit, he would always be welcome at Durham. “As chairman of Durham, if he wants to come play for Durham, I can arrange that tomorrow. I would love him to come and play for Durham. I will definitely have a chat with him before I leave. I honestly don’t know how we will fit it in his schedule. It’s so packed. But it goes back to what I was saying that that’s the kind of guy he is, he wants to dominate everywhere he goes. I would not be surprised to see him playing there, may be for a month or so,” said Botham.
“When I used to play against the West Indies, when they were the best, I used to tell Viv Richards, don’t tell me how good you guys are, tell me how good you will be against your own bowling. The same can be said here. Indian seamers have surprised England. They have bowled good pace consistently and even after rotation. You are very lucky right now. This is one of the best attacks I have seen an Indian side have and it will hold you in good stead away from home,” Botham concluded.