Manchester: Australian run-machine Steve Smith has rated his great Indian rival Virat Kohli as the best ODI batsman in world cricket currently. Both Steve Smith and Virat Kohli will be in action against one another in the upcoming IPL in the UAE. Then in a short while they will face off during India’s tour of Australia later this year. Kohli and Smith have been fierce rivals on the field but share cordial relations off it.
Smith is currently in England for the three-match ODI series against the hosts starting Friday. He talked about Kohli during an Instagram session with fans.
When a fan asked the 31-year-old Australian to name the best ODI batsman, Smith had no hesitation in taking Kohli’s name.
The Indian captain is currently the leading scorer in ODIs among active cricketers. He has 11,867 runs at an average of 59.34. He has 43 hundreds to his name and is only seven away from surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s world record for most hundreds in ODIs.
During the session, Smith described Kohli’s RCB teammate and South African great AB de Villiers as a ‘freak’.
Smith will play for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2020. He said India’s KL Rahul and Sanju Samson are the two players to watch out for.
Smith also talked about his Rajasthan Royals teammate Jos Buttler. The latter while playing for England has been in terrific form in the recently-concluded T20I series against Australia. “Terrific player. Hopefully, no runs against us this week then he can score as many as he likes in the IPL,” Smith said.
Smith will join the Rajasthan Royals squad in UAE after the ODI series against England ends September 16.