Sourav Ganguly picks Virat Kohli over Joe Root

Former Indian cricketer Sourav Ganguly put a full stop to all the comparisons between Joe Root and Virat Kohli. Both Root and Kohli are tipped to be the modern day masters of the game. They have been the leading performers for their respective teams in the recent times. Thus it is no surprise that the comparisons often come in their way.

The critics and fans do not seem to be in a mood to let the comparisons stop. While some believe that Root has an upper hand with his staggering numbers, there are others who commend the adaptability of Virat Kohli. However, former India skipper Sourav Ganguly had a crystal clear reason for picking his better player among the two.

Ganguly believes that it is Virat Kohli who has the upper hand at the moment. The reason for this being the ability to convert good starts to massive ones. Sourav Ganguly rightly cited that whenever Kohli gets a start, he makes sure that he converts it to a massive ton. On the other hand, Joe Root fails to do so. Root looked good at 88 in the final Test but gave his wicket away.

“At this moment when they talk about the best in the world, that’s the difference between Virat Kohli and Joe Root. Kohli converts those 75-80s into hundreds and double hundreds. Look at what he did in Mumbai. Just a hundred would not have saved India’s cause in that Test and he went on to make 235 and took England completely out of the game,” quoted Sourav Ganguly in an interview with India Today.

He further complimented Joe Root for being a great batsman with class and elegance. Considering that Root is just 25 years of age now, he has a long way to go. The former Indian skipper believes that Joe Root has a fantastic future lying ahead of him and will learn a lot from this tour. “Root will also learn from this. He’s a terrific player in all conditions and has got hundreds in Australia, South Africa, England and on turning pitches. He’s just 25 at the moment and he’s only going to get better,” Ganguly conceded.