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Steve Smith and David Warner (Getty Images) |
Australian opener David Warner has weighed in on the debate over the two best batsmen in the world currently – Indian captain Virat Kohli and former Aussie skipper Steve Smith.
The pair have been competing for the top position on the world rankings in recent times, with Smith currently leading the race.
While cricket comparisons is almost as old as the game itself, Warner has shed some light on what makes the two batsmen unique, as well as their similarities.
“When it comes to cricket, they both have got the mental strength, the mental capacity to score runs,” Warner said while speaking to Harsha Bhogle on Cricbuzz in Conversation.
“They both love spending time in the middle. Virat’s passion and drive to score runs is different to what Steve’s would be.
“Steve is going out there for a hit in the middle, that’s how he sees things. He’s hitting them out in the middle, he’s having fun, he’s enjoying himself, just does not want to get out.
“Virat obviously doesn’t want to get out but he knows if he spends a certain amount of time out there he’s going to score plenty of runs at a rapid rate.
“He’s going to get on top of you. That allows the guys coming in, especially in the Indian team you’ve got a lot of players who can be flamboyant as well.
“They stabilise, they boost morale – if they score runs, everyone else’s morale is up. If they are out cheaply you almost sense that on the field that everyone is [down on morale and thinking] now we all have to step up. “It’s a very bizarre situation.”
Kohli is by nature an aggressive player and Warner can be described as someone of a similar ilk. When asked about what drives him on the field, the left-hander spoke of his desire to outdo the opposition.
“I can’t speak for Virat, obviously, but it’s almost like we got this thing in us when we go [out to the middle] we need to prove people wrong, prove someone wrong,” Warner continued.
“If you’re in that contest, and if I’m going at him for example, you’re thinking, ‘Alright, I’m going to score more runs than him, I’m going to take a quick single on him’.
“You are trying to better that person in that game. That’s where the passion comes from.
“Obviously you want to win the game but you almost break it down to If I can score more runs than Virat, or if [Cheteshwar] Pujara scores more runs than Steve Smith, you have these little contests and that’s how you try to narrow the game in the sense.
“If we do these little things, we can be ahead of the game or we can be behind the game. The passion is driven by…I know my sense – one, the will to win and two, wanting to do better than that person in the opposition.”
– TEAMtalk media
