(Image source: X.com)
[Saba Sports News] Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith praised the legendary India batter Virat Kohli, who is setting the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 on fire with his monstrous form. Smith commented that Kohli, as an ODI player, exceeds the great Sachin Tendulkar.
The 34-year-old Kohli has been doing the talking with his bat as he has accumulated 354 runs in six innings with an average of 88.50, which includes one century and three fifties in the ongoing World Cup. In the most recent match against England, Kohli recorded a rare duck against the defending champions in Lucknow on Sunday. But apart from that, his scores in the rest of the five innings are 85, 55, 16, 103* and 95.
In a recent interview, Smith applauded Kohli’s illustrious ODI career and mentioned that the high quality of cricket he has played since his debut to the present has been simply incredible.
“Virat’s career has been incredible. But I think when you dig into his one-day stats and record, it is mind blowing. I think the quality that he has produced right through his international career, in my opinion, he exceeds Sachin,” Smith said as quoted to ANI.
He continued to praise Kohli’s ODI career. The former Proteas skipper acknowledged that there is no one better than Kohli, especially in run-chases.
“He is brilliant, in particular with chase. The way he controls chases. His ability to play one day game no matter what the situation is around him and he is a key figure along with Rohit Sharma at the top of the order in terms of managing pressure as the tournament goes on and how well they play with the bat and just a superstar. I mean there is so much said about Virat Kohli but I don’t think that enough gets made about how insane is Virat Kohli’s ODI record. His one-day record is mind-blowing,” he added.
Speaking of Kohli’s ODI stats, he has featured in 287 games in which the veteran has scored 13,437 runs. He currently holds an average of 57.91 and a strike rate of 93.63. Kohli has 48 ODI tons and 69 fifties under his belt and is only two centuries away from breaking Tendulkar’s record of 49 ODI centuries.