Virat Kohli, Steven Smith best batsmen in modern era, says Azharuddin

Former Indian captain Md. Azharuddin feels that Indian captain Virat Kohli and Australian skipper Steve Smith are the two best batsmen in the world at the moment.

Taking to xtratime over a phone call, Azhar spoke highly of Kohli, who equalled the former's record of scoring the most number of centuries as the India captain. Virat, who scored a double century against Bangladesh in the ongoing match at Hyderabad, now has 9 centuries in 23 matches, while it took Azhar 47 matches to get his 9 hundreds.

“He is a very class player. I think he is the best player in the world at the moment along with Steve Smith. Virat along with Smith, Root and de Villiers are the best batsmen in the contemporary era. But with AB not playing tests these days, Virat is the best batsman at the moment in this format. The hallmark of a great player is to do well in any condition and under any situation. Virat has proved that time and again in recent times,” he said.

On being asked what he feels is the major difference between his and Virat's style of batting, he said, “The one thing that stays apart for me is his ability to stay focused and score runs in any format consistently. He is well aware of what is happening and has the ability to read the situation.”

He also agreed with the rest of the cricketing world when asked about the records Virat is going to break. “Records are meant to be broken and I think the form he is at the moment most batting records will tumble.”