Graeme Smith tips Virat Kohli's 'superstar' tag to keep Test cricket alive

There are not many superstars in cricket nowadays and that is not a good sign for the game, feel many. Former South African captain Graeme Smith is one of them and he feels one of the game’s superstars who will lead from the front to keep Test cricket alive is the Indian captain Virat Kohli. The ace batsman is having a tremendous 2018 and completed 2,000 runs in T20Is, 6,000 runs in Tests and 10,000 runs in ODIs within a short gap this year.

Smith, who has captained South Africa in most number of ODIs (149) and Tests (108) and the second most number of T20Is (27) till now, was addressing the Jagmohan Dalmiya annual conclave hosted by the Cricket Association of Bengal in Kolkata where he put across his opinion on the current state of cricket.

“World cricket is lacking a huge amount of superstars. May be one or two in England. I think Virat (Kohli) is that guy (superstar). The fact that he loves Test cricket and puts in performances, it keeps Test cricket relevant in a country that loves the game with IPL and other T20s. It’s huge for the game,” he was quoted as saying by the Times of India.

“As long as Virat keeps promoting Test cricket as an icon and superstar, we all have the chance to keep the game relevant,” Smith, who has scored over 17,000 international runs between 2002 and 2014 with 37 centuries, said.

Smith slams Kookaburra balls

Smith, the longest-serving Test captain of South Africa by far, also took a dig at the Kookaburra balls saying it is hurting Test cricket. “It’s a ball that softens and does not swing for a long period of time. I think Test cricket cannot afford to have boring draws,” the 37-year-old said, adding the ball was letting people down.

Smith’s words came at a time when members of Team India, including the captain, have criticised the quality of SG balls. The former SA captain said the cricketing world needed to see more competitive sides if the game has to go forward.

[interaction id=”5bd8842e82434bdc335d96f0″]

Get the latest Cricket News and updates, Match Predictions, Fantasy Cricket Tips and lots more on CricTracker.com.