Steve Smith hands down is the best batsman in the world

[Vijy]

2 hours ago, Stan AF said:

Take a bow champion batsman.

 

Easily head and shoulders above all his peers in Test batting.

Kane is better in terms of pure technique, but for some reason he has failed to do that talent justice in Tests. In the long format, Smith will be remembered as one of the greatest ever after Bradman: remarkable temperament, dedication, unorthodox but effective technique, etc... in a lot of ways, he seems to have the same traits that bradman allegedly possessed.

[R!TTER]

2 hours ago, cric_fan said:

The daddy of all modern Test batters

Not all of them but yeah post 2010 easily the best till date.

[Insidious]

7 hours ago, Stan AF said:

After he was dropped like 3-4 times.

Twice I believe. Part of a game. Still that century of Kohli was superior since he also had to face Anderson, and India tailenders are way too inferior than the Aussies. Rohit Sharma also get reprieve in almost every innings in the world cup in which he scored a hundred. Yet people go Gaga over him , without mentioning how lucky he was and criticize Kohli who also score 5 50s but never enjoyed such luck. 

[Nikola]

He bats with way weaker batting lineup than kohli does. Ofcourse he has support from tailenders but that's it. Warner is walking wicket in overseas most times.

[Insidious]

7 hours ago, mishra said:

Kohli got a wicket too. Cheteshwar Pujara

That was at Lord's.

[Insidious]

9 minutes ago, Nikola said:

He bats with way weaker batting lineup than kohli does. Ofcourse he has support from tailenders but that's it. Warner is walking wicket in overseas most times.

What is the meaning of way weaker batting line up? How Rahul / Vijay/Dhawan/Rohit on current form or the form they displayed in England, were 'superior' to any Australian batsman. Rahane is a mental midget and currently not superior to even khawaja. Only pujara is a superior batsman. But look how pathetic our tailenders are. On English conditions, when ball get soft/old, having capable tailenders is a massive advantage. For India it was Amit Mishra in 2011 and Bhuvi in 2014 , who shown why capable tailenders are so useful. However, we never had such luxury in 2018.

 

[Nikola]

2 minutes ago, Insidious said:

What is the meaning of way weaker batting line up? How Rahul / Vijay/Dhawan/Rohit on current form or the form they displayed in England, were 'superior' to any Australian batsman. Rahane is a mental midget and currently not superior to even khawaja. Only pujara is a superior batsman. But look how pathetic our tailenders are. On English conditions, when ball get soft/old, having capable tailenders is a massive advantage. For India it was Amit Mishra in 2011 and Bhuvi in 2014 , who shown why capable tailenders are so useful. However, we never had such luxury in 2018.

I think smith has been carrying this aus side alone since 2014 test series vs india. India has had rahane in 2014-15, kohli since 2014 & pujara in couple of series doing well. So it's not that we are totally dependent on kohli in tests. The only series we have won in SENA in this decade is without kohli's contribution. I doubt aus can win anything without smith at the moment.

[cricketfan28]

time to find our answer for him .. lets see how the youngsters do.

[Insidious]

48 minutes ago, Nikola said:

I think smith has been carrying this aus side alone since 2014 test series vs india. India has had rahane in 2014-15, kohli since 2014 & pujara in couple of series doing well. So it's not that we are totally dependent on kohli in tests. The only series we have won in SENA in this decade is without kohli's contribution. I doubt aus can win anything without smith at the moment.

Not entirely convinced as Smith is also getting help from Warner (although not in every match)and the ever so reliable Australian tailenders. Don't get me wrong  Smith is better than Kohli in test cricket. But debate is not over, certainly not when Kohli scoring runs in bowling friendly conditions overseas. 

 

[CG]

The pitches when we toured England had more movement and the way Kohli played was as good
as it gets.Smith is good but I would till end of series to compare performance.

[Insidious]

21 minutes ago, CG said:

The pitches when we toured England had more movement and the way Kohli played was as good
as it gets.Smith is good but I would till end of series to compare performance.

Users here are so miffed with Kohli that they couldn't differentiate between Kohli the batsman and Kohli the captain 

[cricketfan28]

2 minutes ago, Insidious said:

Users here are so miffed with Kohli that they couldn't differentiate between Kohli the batsman and Kohli the captain 

it will go away once kohliji resumes his masterclass. 

[R!TTER]

1 hour ago, CG said:

The pitches when we toured England had more movement and the way Kohli played was as good
as it gets.Smith is good but I would till end of series to compare performance.

He was also very lucky, not to mention he failed in crucial innings in 1st test 2nd innings & 4th test 2nd innings. Both times he was set & had another batter at the other end, he gave away his wicket in both instances & lost us crucial moments in the match+series - had we won that first or 4th test the series could've been very different! Take what you will but Kohli has not lived up to expectations in crucial moments of such test series, people remember his total runs but just like WC he failed in the KO moments each time!

[VT87]

So if smith can't win any game in England . will he criticised as kohli. 

[VT87]

Wait after England ing completion, I think this pitch is flat as pancake

[New guy]

1 hour ago, cricketfan28 said:

it will go away once kohliji resumes his masterclass. 

I doubt he will hit his peak again. Once you are so involved in politics, you lose your focus and hunger 

[Stan AF]

https://www.sonyliv.com/details/specials/6066830594001/Mercurial-Steve-Smith-Steers-Australia-To-A-Decent-Score---The-Ashes-2019---1st-August,-2019

[mishra]

6 hours ago, Insidious said:

That was at Lord's.

At Lords he bullied him out.

[Insidious]

3 hours ago, New guy said:

I doubt he will hit his peak again. Once you are so involved in politics, you lose your focus and hunger 

Kohli involved in politics even before the champions Trophy. But that didn't stopped him from performing then, so why it will now.

[R!TTER]

Most batters don't have multiple peaks & batters like Kohli can have huge troughs like 2014 vs England or 2017 vs Oz. So while his peak may not be over, he will definitely not score runs like he did in 2014/15 - 2018/19 you can bet on it.