Former Australian fast bowler Brett Lee has picked Steven Smith over Indian captain Virat Kohli as a better batsman. Lee added that both are great players but he will go with Smith because he has been through a tough time in the last couple of years. Smith was banned for one year by Cricket Australia for the ball-tampering saga of the Cape Town Test.
The former Australian captain had to go through a rough time as he was booed by the crowd when he made his International comeback. However, Smith did not let it affect him as he made a roaring return to the game.
Smith had a great Ashes and scored 774 runs in four Test matches to help Australia retain the urn. In fact, Brett Lee also likened Steven Smith with former legend Sir Don Bradman and former pacer believes Smith can be as good as Don. Smith is always determined to give his best and there is hardly any chunk in his armour.
On the other hand, Virat Kohli is the most consistent batsman in all the three forms of the game. Kohli has an average of more than 50 across the three formats and his records speaks volumes especially in the limited overs format. The Indian talisman has scored more than 21000 International runs and he has 70 centuries.
Steven Smith is at the numero uno position in the ICC Test rankings whereas Kohli is hot on the heels of the Australian as he is placed at second. Kohli occupies the number one rankings in the ODI format.
In fact, many cricket pundits believe Steven Smith is a better Test batsman than Virat Kohli whereas the Indian captain holds his wood on the Australian in the white-ball formats.
“At the moment I would choose Smith over Kohli because of what he has been through and what he has to overcome, they are two great players, I think Smith can be as good as Don Bradman, there have been talks of him becoming just like Bradman looking at the numbers” Brett Lee said while talking to Pommie Mbangwa in Instagram live interaction.
Virat Kohli and Steven Smith are often compared with each other. Both of them have been consistent performers for their respective teams and they have been instrumental in the success of their sides. Smith and Kohli will be up against one another during India’s tour of Australia later in the year.
