Indian skipper Virat Kohli is arguably the best batsman in the modern era and his records in all forms of cricket speak volumes of his capabilities. With 70 international centuries against his name, the Delhi-born cricketer is touted to break the record of Sachin Tendulkar’s 100 international centuries. One might say that Australia’s Steve Smith has an edge over Kohli in Test cricket. However, no active player is even near his records in white-ball cricket. Recently, former India batsman Gautam Gambhir heaped praises on Kohli’s prowess and highlighted what makes the Indian star better than the likes of Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers and Rohit Sharma in limited-overs cricket. Virat Kohli at the Moment Has Won Nothing as a Leader, Says Gautam Gambhir.

“That’s why he’s (Virat Kohli) different from the rest. You look at Rohit Sharma. He does not have the quality which Virat Kohli has, of rotating the strike. Rohit Sharma has those big shots, but that’s why Virat is more consistent than Rohit,” said Gambhir told Star Sports. MS Dhoni at No 3 Would Have Probably Broken Most of the Records, Says Gautam Gambhir.

The two-time World Cup winner also said that Caribbean opener is also not great in rotating strike while De Villiers struggles to rotate strike against spinners.

“Chris Gayle doesn’t have that ability to rotate the strike, AB de Villiers doesn’t have the ability to rotate strike off each delivery against spin-bowling, Virat Kohli has that, and that’s why he averages over 50,” added Gambhir.

The cricketer-turned-politician also said that a batsman can take a lot of pressure off himself by playing fewer dot balls. “People do not give a lot of importance to dot balls. If you play fewer dot balls, you can reduce a lot of pressure. The easiest thing to do in cricket is a six or a four. Because ultimately, you are playing that high-risk shot. If it comes off, everyone loves it. If it doesn’t come off, you’ll probably be back in the pavilion. But there are very few cricketers in world cricket who can rotate the strike off every bowl. That’s what Virat Kohli does really well,” the 38-year-old further said.

Interestingly, on many occasions, the southpaw has called Rohit Sharma as the best white-ball batsman in the modern era owing to the latter’s ability to smash big hundreds. In fact, on the opener’s birthday, Gambhir wished him by saying: “Happy Birthday to the best white-ball cricketer in the world @ImRo45.”

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 16, 2020 12:39 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).