There has been a huge debate on the best batsman of the current era. The race has been spearhead by the fab four of Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, Joe Root and Steve Smith. It is worth noticing that all the four players have captained their sides but there is no denying the fact that Indian captain Virat Kohli has stamped his authority across all three formats of the game. The Delhi lad was leading the race as the world’s best in ODI and T20 format but it was the red ball cricket which got him the recognition off late.
Virat’s test abilities were doubted after he had a horrific test series in England in 2014 but from the verge of getting dropped the 30-year-old roared back like a champion and notched several double tons in the longest format of the game to become the standout batsman for the Indian team. His captaincy didn’t affected his batting as more responsibilities meant that he came up with better scores that were enough to make India a world power in cricket currently.
Williamson is one of the better captains in world cricket currently but his batting abilities are best proven in longest version of the game where he can be considered as New Zealand’s greatest batsman of all time. England’s test captain Joe Root is also amongst the current greats but like Williamson, test cricket is best suited for him.
Former Australian captain Steve Smith is currently out of the national team owing to the in-famous Sandpaper gate controversy but is expected to make a comeback sooner than later. He was one batsman who was challenging Virat in all three formats of the game but an unfortunate happening last year meant that he was banned from playing for Australia for a period of one year which brought down his chances of pipping Virat Kohli.
Shoaib Akhtar picks his favourite
Meanwhile, former Pakistani speedster Shoaib Akhtar contested a question answer session on his official twitter account where a fan asked him about the best batsman of the world. The Rawalpindi express had no hesitation in picking Virat Kohli, who recently swept ICC awards where he won the ICC Cricketer of the Year, ICC Test Batsman of the Year and ICC ODI batsman of the Year, thanks to 2735 runs that he scored in 2018 calendar year.
