Virat Kohli and Steve Smith may be one of the fiercest competitors on the cricket field, but that doesn’t mean there is disrespect between the two. Kohli and Smith, who often face each other for the best hitter tag, have been praised time and again for their accomplishments. Do you remember Kohli asking the Indian section of the crowd not to boo Smith and instead applaud him during the India vs Australia group stage match at the World Cup last year? Smith, it now seems, has decided to return the favor, albeit in a different way.
The former captain of Australia named the captain of India, Virat Kohli, as the best ODI batsman in the cricket world today. Smith, who is currently in England preparing for ODI’s three-game series against the hosts starting Friday, decided to engage in a question and answer session with fans on Instagram.
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During that session, the 31-year-old Australian was asked by a fan to name the best hitter in ODI. Smith did not hesitate to take the name Virat Kohli.
Kohli is currently the leader in run scoring in ODI among active cricketers with 11,867 runs at an average of 59.34. He has 43 hundreds to his own and is only seven away, breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s world record of over hundreds in ODI cricket.
Smith was also asked to describe Kohli’s RCB teammate and South African legend AB de Villiers in one word. The Australian hitter responded with “Freak.”
Smith, who will represent the Rajasthan Royals at the 2020 IPL, described KL Rahul as a ‘weapons’ player and used the adjective ‘talented’ for hitter Sanju Samson.
Smith had an interesting take when asked about his Rajasthan Royals teammate Jos Buttler, who has been in excellent shape in the recently concluded T20I series against Australia.
“Excellent player. Hopefully there will be no runs against us this week so he can score as many as he wants in the IPL, ”Smith said.
Smith will join the Rajasthan Royals team in the United Arab Emirates after the ODI series against England ends on September 16.
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