"Simply Phenomenal": Steve Smith Reveals What He Admires The Most About Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli and Steve Smith are undoubtedly two of the best batsmen going around in world cricket and on numerous occasions they have been pitted against each other by fans and pundits. The debate has raged on as to who is better and while that might take some time to be settled, one thing there is no debating about is that the duo have immense respect for each other. Virat Kohli has spoken about his admiration for Steve Smith, even gesturing to fans during a match not to boo Smith after the Australian had returned from his ban. Smith has now spoken highly of the Indian captain, calling him "simply phenomenal".

"Look, I admire Virat a lot. He is an amazing player. You look at his record now, simply incredible. He's done so much for Indian cricket as well. They way they play the game now, the sheer passion he has got for Indian cricket," Steve Smith said during his interaction on Sony Ten Pitstop.

"His willingness to improve and get better. You can see his body has sort of transformed over time. He is so fit and strong now and powerful. I can't say a bad word about him, he is pretty amazing for cricket."

While Steve Smith heads the batting charts, just ahead of Virat Kohli in Test cricket, the Indian run-machine is head and shoulders above the rest in One-day Internationals and the Australian acknowledged that fact.

"The one thing I admire the most about him is in white-ball, the way he chases. You look at his average in winning chases in ODIs and it's simply phenomenal. So good under pressure, calm and just gets the job done more often than not. You have got to admire someone like that."

A monumental battle is on the cards when India visit Australia to play a four-Test series, three-match ODI series and a three-match T20I series.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Australia Cricket Team Virat Kohli Steven Smith Cricket