Legendary Pakistan batsman Zaheer Abbas picked India skipper Virat Kohli over Australia’s Steve Smith as the best batsman across all the three formats – Tests, ODIs and T20Is.
Abbas admitted that Smith inches Kohli in the longest format of the game but when it comes to white-ball cricket the India skipper is above all, along with a decent record in Tests as well.
“If you want to establish yourself as the top batsman in world cricket, you have to be consistent in all formats. That’s fundamental,” Abbas told The Telegraph.
“But yeah, Steve Smith is more consistent than Kohli in Test cricket. He scores in almost every series he plays. Even the other Australian — David Warner — has been doing well.
“But as I said, a batsman needs to perform in all formats and in that sense, Kohli is more consistent in the other versions as well,” he added.
Kohli’s records, especially in the white-ball format, are staggering. The classy right-hander averages above 50 in all forms of international cricket. In Tests, he has scored 7240 runs at an average of 53.62 and in ODIs, he has scored 11867 runs at an average of almost 60. In the shortest format, Kohli has played 82 matches in which he has scored 2794 runs.
Kohli is constantly rated as the best batsman in the world because of his adaptability to different situations and different formats.
Abbas, the stylish and elegant batsman who played for Pakistan in the 1970s and 1980s, feels that cricket has evolved over time and comparing cricketers of different eras and terming a player an all-time great is not fair.
“See, the game has evolved so much. It has also differed in different eras. The kind of cricket we see now is not the same as it used to be during our times or some years later.
“So from that perspective, I don’t think you can call anyone as an all-time great player. This kind of comparison is not fair,” said Abbas.