"It's Irrelevant": Ex-Pakistan Captain Slams Batter Who Said 'Virat Kohli Is Behind Me'

Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt slammed veteran batter Khurram Manzoor for claiming that his record in List A cricket is better than that of star India batter Virat Kohli. During a recent appearance on Nadir Ali's podcast, Manzoor, who has represented Pakistan in 16 Tests, seven ODIs and three T20Is, was asked about a claim he had made over his List A numbers being better than Kohli. He had clarified that his intention was not to compare himself with the former India captain, but to highlight his achievements in domestic cricket.

"I am not comparing myself with Virat Kohli. Fact is, in 50-overs cricket, whoever are there in the top-10, I am the world no.1. Kohli is behind me as he scores a century every six innings. I score century every 5.68 innings, which is a world record. Over the last 10 years, my average is 53, and I am ranked fifth in the world, as far as List A cricket is concerned," said Manzoor.

However, Butt feels that the comments made by Manzoor are "irrelevant", and pointed out Kohli's daunting record in international cricket, to back his claim.

"He said that his conversion rate in better than Kohli in List A cricket, which is fair enough. But, one thing is missing here; Kohli has played more than 250 games (in ODIs), and has better conversion rate in international cricket. You can't draw a comparison here as there is no international cricket is miles ahead of domestic cricket. It's irrelevant," Butt said on his YouTube channel.

Notably, Kohli, who didn't score a ton for more than three years, ended his century drought last year in the Asia Cup against Afghanistan, which was his 1st hundred in T20Is. 

Since then, the 35-year-old hasn't looked back, smashing three centuries in his last seven ODI outings. 

He is just three ODI tons away from equalling former India batter Sachin Tendulkar's (49) record of scoring the most number of tons in the format.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Pakistan Cricket Team Virat Kohli Khurram Manzoor Salman Butt Cricket