Steve Smith the best in Tests; Virat Kohli across all formats: Zaheer Abbas

Steve Smith or Virat Kohli – picking the best batsman in modern-day cricket is a never-ending debate. The duo has performed extremely well in all the formats due to which cricketing fraternity finds it difficult to pick one out of the two. But, Zaheer Abbas, the former Pakistan cricketer has picked his favourite across all the formats.

There is no doubt that Kohli and Smith have raised the benchmark of batting in international cricket. For them scoring runs with the willow is just a cakewalk. On one side, Smith looks prolific in the longer format and ends up scoring for Australia in almost every Test series. Meanwhile, Kohli scores in the same fashion wherever he goes on to the field irrespective of the format.

Zaheer Abbas feels Virat Kohli is the best across all the formats

Zaheer Abbas, the former Pakistan cricketer said that Smith is more consistent than Kohli in Tests. He scores in a very consistent fashion. Even, he praised David Warner for doing well. But, he feels that a batsman needs to perform in each and every format. So, in that case, Virat Kohli is way more consistent in other formats like T20Is and ODIs.

“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. If you want to establish yourself as the top batsman in world cricket, you have to be consistent in all formats. That’s fundamental,” Zaheer Abbas said as quoted by The Telegraph.

As per Abbas, Team India plays more cricket than any other country. So, Kohli gets more opportunities. But, he gives standout performances on the majority of the occasions. Moreover, he doesn’t get bored of playing games according to 72-year-old, “Waise bhi bahut hi zyaada cricket khelte hai Indian team (In any case, the Indian team plays too much of cricket). A top player like Kohli too is a part of most of those matches, and he can’t get bored too because that’s his profession and has given him so much,” former Pakistan skipper said.

The former player also recited that at the moment there are very few players, who can compete with Kohli in international cricket. He added that the Indian skipper has reaped out lots of success over the years that is simply amazing, “Just look at what Kohli has achieved over the years Also, he is not a machine. Even a machine sometimes mal-functions. At this moment, there aren’t many who can parallel Kohli,” he added.