'Virat Kohli not as good as Rohit Sharma'
In what might seem like some outrageous words, former
Indian cricketer, Sandeep Patil, has opined that the deputy captain, Rohit
Sharma, is the better batsman in limited overs when compared to Virat Kohli.
The comments might sound absurd. After all, Kohli has a 50+
average in ODIs after playing for almost a decade. However, Rohit Sharma is in
supreme form this year and only just scored his 3rd double hundred
of his career.
He also scored a joint-fastest century in T20Is in 35 balls against
Sri Lanka. And now Patil thinks that the stand-in skipper against the Lankans
is better than recently-married Virat Kohli.
“Virat Kohli fans might not like it but I have to say Rohit
Sharma is currently the better batsman. Virat is definitely a great batsman, no
doubt about it. He is India’s best Test batsman but when it comes to limited
overs cricket, Rohit is ahead of him,” said Patil in a conversation with ABP
News.
He also claimed that the captain will score runs in South
Africa, but despite that, Sharma has been in better form this year—be it as a
captain or just a player.
“I’m sure Virat’s going to come back from break and score
lots of runs in South Africa but when we talk about limited overs cricket this
year, Rohit has been unbelievable.
“People may say he has played more matches against Sri Lanka
but so has Virat. Whether he is playing only as a batsman or as captain Rohit
has proved he is best at the moment,” concluded the former Indian cricketer.
Patil might get a lot of flak for his comments, but the
truth is that Rohit Sharma has been the best limited overs batsman this year.
However, all of his best exploits have come at home, so the South Africa series
should be the real test for the Mumbai man.
