Botham feels Kohli right ‘guy’ to take Indian cricket forward

London: Legendary English all-rounder Ian Botham says captain Virat Kohli is the “right guy” to take Indian cricket forward but rates Ben Stokes as the world’s best player at the moment.
“Virat takes the game to the opposition, he takes a stand for his players. I would have loved to play against him. He is the right guy to take Indian cricket forward,” Botham said during an online chat session with Playwrite Foundation. One of the game’s finest all-rounders, Botham has represented England with distinction during a stellar career, the highlight of which was heroics in the 1981 Ashes series.
Botham had his take on the debate around the best all-rounder between former player Andrew Flintoff and England’s World Cup hero Ben Stokes. “Ben (Stokes) is better than a mile to Freddy (Andrew Flintoff). Ben Stokes is the closest version of me, he plays like me with his heart on his sleeve.
Flintoff was good but Stokes is just exceptional. He is the best cricketer in the world now,” he said. Botham, who was part of the famous all-rounder quartet of the 1980s along with Kapil Dev, Richard Hadlee and Imran Khan, said that he is privileged to have played in that era. “It was a privilege to play in that era. We spoilt the fans for around 10-15 years. I don’t think world cricket has seen so many all-rounders rubbing shoulders at the same time. “In every tour I used to see what Richard has done, what Kaps (Kapil) has done, what Immi (Imran) has done. There was a great rivalry,” the former England captain said.
He added, “All-rounders can’t be manufactured, they don’t grow on trees. The workload is double and it obviously takes a toll on your body.
“Just imagine, Kapil? the amount of bowling he did on those Indian pitches, which had very little to offer, that too in the scorching heat of Chennai and Delhi. I can’t see anyone in the present generation being able to do that,” Botham said. Ben Stokes is current vice-captain of the England Test team. Stokes was part of the England squad that won the 2019 Cricket World Cup.
An attacking middle-order batsman, he holds the record for England’s fastest ever Test double-century, the fastest ever Test match 250, and the highest ever score for a Test batsman batting at number six. He also holds the record for the most runs scored by an individual batsman in the morning session of a Test match. Stokes became the highest-paid overseas player in the history of the Indian Premier League in 2017, he also won the Most Valuable Player award during the season.
Kohli on the other hand is a right-handed top-order batsman, and is regarded as one of the best batsmen in the world. He plays for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League (IPL), and has been the team’s captain since 2013.
Since October 2017, he has been the top-ranked ODI batsman in the world and is currently 2nd in Test rankings with 886 points.
Kohli captained India Under-19s to victory at the 2008 Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia. After a few months later, he made his ODI debut for India against Sri Lanka at the age of 19. Initially having played as a reserve batsman in the Indian team, he soon established himself as a regular in the ODI middle-order. (Agencies)