Virat Kohli is the best in the business currently, opines Shane Warne

Talk about the greatest cricketers of all time, the deliberation would be incomplete if Aussie legend Shane Warne doesn’t get a mention. Arguably the greatest leg-spinner the sport has witnessed, Warne knows a thing or two about being the best in a certain aspect of the game.

The spin maestro had a chat with a few Indian journalists in Southampton and conceded that Virat Kohli, at this point in time, is the best in the world across all formats. Having said that, he reckons Steve Smith is the best when it comes to Test cricket. Although Kohli is at the helm of the ICC Test rankings for batsmen, Smith is firm at his second position despite being suspended from the game in March.

“Kohli definitely is the best batsman in the world at the moment across all formats. But if you ask me who the best batsman in test cricket, it has to be Steve Smith,” Warne was quoted as saying by Xtratime.in.

Lara and Sachin – The best in my time

The second highest wicket-taker in International cricket also said that Windies legend Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar were the best in his era. He also said that it was a privilege to see some of the game’s finest prospects transcend from young talents to absolute champions like Jacques Kallis, Kumar Sangakkara, Rahul Dravid and many more.

“To me, Brian Lara and Sachin were the two best batsmen in my time. I started in 1990 and ended in 2013. In this 23 years span, I saw Jaques Kallis, Ricky Ponting, Graham Gooch, Kevin Pietersen, Kumar Sangakkara, Dravid. All of them were fantastic players. Then there are the two standouts.

Talking about Kohli matching up to the likes of legends of his era, he said Kohli certainly has the calibre to do something big. “Tendulkar and Lara were some much better than the others. I am not disrespecting the other great players but these two are class.

I think Virat can go down as one of the great but you can’t say that right now as I think you can’t judge a player before he plays in all conditions against all players for a long period of time. On present form, Kohli is definitely the best player in the world at the moment,” Warne elucidated.

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