Unfair to compare Root with 'phenomenal' Kohli: Pietersen

[Malcolm Merlyn]

Quote

Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen feels that it's an unfair comparison between Joe Root and Virat Kohli since the statistically the Indian Test captain is way ahead of the Yorkshire lad.

Going through a purple patch, Kohli has often being compared with England batsman Joe Root, which Pietersen feels isn't a fair comparison.

"Kohli is as good as it gets. He is right up there. Root has good numbers, but it's unfair to even compare Joe with Virat because his numbers are just phenomenal," Pietersen was quoted as saying by 'The Cricketer' magazine.

"He plays so aggressively - sometimes it's like - are you serious? The way he makes big runs for his team so often is just remarkable," he added.

Pointing out Kohli's record average of 60 in the second innings during ODI runchases, Pietersen said: "I switched on the TV and saw him play that 85 not out at Dharamsala [against New Zealand] – goodness, that was amazing.

"He just has that ability to rotate the strike and find boundaries. His ODI record is a joke. Such an old head on young-ish shoulders."

England will be up against a formidable spin trioka of off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, left-armer Ravindra Jadeja and leg-spinner Amit Mishra during their bilateral series against India.

 

 

KP said England need to watch out for the doosra from Ashwin, who has been in red-hot form, picking up 153 wickets in 22 Tests at home.

The Chennai offie scalped 27 wickets to help India blank New Zealand 3-0 in the recently concluded series and Pietersen said: "Ashwin is a good bowler. He uses his variations very well, especially the way he approaches the crease. He's always looking to attack and outfox a batsman.

"When I've played against him, I could pick his doosra, so I was OK. But if England's batsmen can't pick his doosra they'll have issues. The low bounce might make it harder, but that's part of the challenge of playing in India.

"Batsmen have got to find themselves a boundary option in India. It's all about rotating the strike and maneuvering the field. I was OK in India. I enjoyed it there. I made plenty of hundreds there," he added.

The last time England toured India in 2012, they had beaten the hosts 2-1. However, this time England is coming into the Test series after a shocking defeat to Bangladesh in the second Test at Dhaka.

The first match of the series will be played at Rajkot from November 9. 

http://www.rediff.com/cricket/report/unfair-to-compare-root-with-phenomenal-kohli-pietersen-india-england/20161103.htm

[Muloghonto]

Erm...Ashwin doesnt bowl the doosra. He bowls the carrom-ball that behaves like the doosra (i.e., breaks towards the slips when bowled to right handers) but is bowled with a completely different action than the doosra....

 

[Sandeep99]

Goodness me KP.. Ashwin stopped bowling the doosra.. 

Root has better numbers in tests than Kohli, at least for now.. 

 

Why are these senior retired pros so misinformed?!

[Jimmy Cliff]

Root is arguably the 2nd best batsman in the world. Kohli's probably not even the 2nd best batsman in his team. So yeah it's quite an unfair comparison.

[Cricketics]

For me the best test batsman currently are 

Root/Rahane - Top

then 

Younis Khan/Smith/Kane- 2nd best

and then

Pujara/Kohli

 

Kohli, most likely will surpass all and will be the best among all as his one day game will surely bring his average up in test cricket. He is already rising and with captaincy now under him, he is going to progress into becoming the best in the world.

 

but as of now, Rahane and Root for me are the best over anyone.

 

 

 

 

[MechEng]

KP will never miss out any opportunity to take potshots at England players after the way he was treated while being in the team.

[gakgupta]

For me the best tedt batsman currently are 

Root/Rahane - Top

then 

Younis Khan/Smith - 2nd best

and then

Pujara/Kohli

 

Kohli, most likely willsurpass all and will be the best among all as his one day game will surely bring his average up in test cricket. He is already rising and with captaincy now under him, he is going to progress into becoming the bedt in the world.

 

but as of now, Rahane and Root for me are the best over anyone.

 

 

 

 

You forgot Kane....he is probably the best....even ahead of Root and Rahane

Sent from my XT1068 using Tapatalk

[express bowling]

1 hour ago, Jimmy Cliff said:

Root is arguably the 2nd best batsman in the world. Kohli's probably not even the 2nd best batsman in his team. So yeah it's quite an unfair comparison.

KP was talking " all-format-performances " ....not just test matches.

 

In test matches played in the last 3 years, Kohli has actually been the 2nd best batsman in his team after Rahane, whether the parameter is batting averages or scoring all over the world.

 

Overall figures

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	0	4s	6s
AM Rahane	2013-2016	28	48	7	2201	188	53.68	4095	53.74	8	9	3	258	19
V Kohli	2013-2016	30	51	1	2379	211	47.58	4089	58.18	9	6	2	275	4
CA Pujara	2013-2016	25	42	2	1675	153	41.87	3650	45.89	4	7	2	206	3
M Vijay	2013-2016	26	45	1	1784	150	40.54	3939	45.29	3	11	3	219	13
KL Rahul	2014-2016	9	15	0	562	158	37.46	1020	55.09	3	1	0	65	6
RG Sharma	2013-2016	21	36	4	1184	177	37.00	2181	54.28	2	7	4	115	25
S Dhawan	2013-2016	22	38	1	1277	173	34.51	2268	56.30	3	3	4	159	3
WP Saha	2014-2016	16	22	4	610	104	33.88	1355	45.01	1	4	3	63	5
R Ashwin	2013-2016	23	33	5	894	124	31.92	1752	51.02	3	3	1	89	6
MS Dhoni	2013-2014	13	23	1	667	82	30.31	1239	53.83	0	5	2	92	3
RA Jadeja	2013-2016	15	25	4	527	68	25.09	815	64.66	0	2	2	63	12

 

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=1;filter=advanced;orderby=batting_average;qualmin1=5;qualval1=matches;spanmax1=04+Nov+2016;spanmin1=04+Nov+2013;spanval1=span;team=6;template=results;type=batting

 

Edited November 4, 2016 by express bowling

[Cricketics]

6 minutes ago, gakgupta said:

You forgot Kane....he is probably the best....even ahead of Root and Rahane

Sent from my XT1068 using Tapatalk

Yes Forgott him.  One of the best for me as well but not the best as struggled in India but still one of the best and has been rightly put right next to Kohli. 

[Muloghonto]

43 minutes ago, Cricketics said:

Yes Forgott him.  One of the best for me as well but not the best as struggled in India but still one of the best and has been rightly put right next to Kohli. 

Thing is, except for Tendulkar and Gavaskar, i cannot think of a batsman who hasn't struggled somewhere or another.

kallis averages 35 in England & Sri Lanka, Ponting in India averages like 26, Dravid in South Africa averages 29, Lara averages 33 in India and 36 in New Zealand, Sangakkara averages 36 in India and 35 in South Africa, Steve Waugh averages 36 in New Zealand and 16 in Sri Lanka, Viv averages 19 in New Zealand, Miandad averages 38 in Aus, 33 in WI and 15 in Sri lanka. Even the great Sobers averages 15 in NZ and 32 in Pakistan.

 

Now, i am not saying that Kane is in the same class (he is not), but i think the whole 'he struggled/failed in ABC nation' is not an argument against greatness in batsmen. Because as stats show us, its pretty much the rarest of rare greats who do well everywhere.

 

[Cricketics]

4 minutes ago, Muloghonto said:

Thing is, except for Tendulkar and Gavaskar, i cannot think of a batsman who hasn't struggled somewhere or another.

kallis averages 35 in England & Sri Lanka, Ponting in India averages like 26, Dravid in South Africa averages 29, Lara averages 33 in India and 36 in New Zealand, Sangakkara averages 36 in India and 35 in South Africa, Steve Waugh averages 36 in New Zealand and 16 in Sri Lanka, Viv averages 19 in New Zealand, Miandad averages 38 in Aus, 33 in WI and 15 in Sri lanka. Even the great Sobers averages 15 in NZ and 32 in Pakistan.

 

Now, i am not saying that Kane is in the same class (he is not), but i think the whole 'he struggled/failed in ABC nation' is not an argument against greatness in batsmen. Because as stats show us, its pretty much the rarest of rare greats who do well everywhere.

 

That is the same reason why I still have KoHli and Kane still as one of the best in the world but just a little below Rahane and Root and feel they both will eventually score runs where they have not yet scored.  

 

I rate both very highly. As I have already stated Kohli will surpass them all. And the Nostradamus in me already predicted him being part of the Indin team and being India's future captain back in 2007 when he had not even been picked in Indian team :)

 

ICF archived threads are proof. May be one day over the weekend, I will try to find those threads. :) 

[express bowling]

Failing in one or two countries is common for top batsmen....like Root has done in Australia, Bangladesh and NZ.  But acute weakness against a type of bowling in general would raise question marks over the greatness of a batsman.  How Root fares in the subcontinent in test matches would be interesting to watch.  He has failed in Bangladesh and  not played in Sri  Lanka. Let's see how he does in India this series.

Edited November 4, 2016 by express bowling

[MCcricket]

India under Kohli and Dhoni in test are two complete different teams, different levels, Kohli will into intimidate n make em nervous, he by his sheer presence, ability to play that inning to take his team to victory, the control, the calculativeness, the aggression, as if he is on auto pilot, Kohli to me is the greatest ODI player ever, n will go onto become the greatest batsmen of all time, even Sachin did not have the ability to close matches the way he does, to play chance less innings, to be the biggest factor in a teams win or loss , as heis

[G_B_]

Kohli has this gear in all forms of cricket not many can match. But Root is more consistent.

[putrevus]

I would rate Root and Kane over Kohli in tests so far in their careers. Smith is very underrated but what he has been doing is just off the charts. Unlike Root Smith has scored runs everywhere he has played. Kohli still has lot of work to do in tests, he just does not inspire the same confidence of ODIs when batting in tests.

Edited November 4, 2016 by putrevus

[SLICKR392]

Always maintained this. Root is consistent in 'Tests'. Currently, Kohli is second to none when it comes to all format put together. (bar ABDV)

[sandeep]

Root has been very consistent but mostly at home.  Looks better in tests than Kohli and that's not just stats.  But this India series is big for him - needs to be seen whether he can do well in foreign conditions.  

[Vilander]

KP can talk boss, he played well in India , had a pretty good IPL stint. Cook probably is a better bat than KP, but KP can certainly say what he feels like, we like him here in India.

[Vilander]

10 hours ago, Muloghonto said:

Thing is, except for Tendulkar and Gavaskar, i cannot think of a batsman who hasn't struggled somewhere or another.

kallis averages 35 in England & Sri Lanka, Ponting in India averages like 26, Dravid in South Africa averages 29, Lara averages 33 in India and 36 in New Zealand, Sangakkara averages 36 in India and 35 in South Africa, Steve Waugh averages 36 in New Zealand and 16 in Sri Lanka, Viv averages 19 in New Zealand, Miandad averages 38 in Aus, 33 in WI and 15 in Sri lanka. Even the great Sobers averages 15 in NZ and 32 in Pakistan.

 

Now, i am not saying that Kane is in the same class (he is not), but i think the whole 'he struggled/failed in ABC nation' is not an argument against greatness in batsmen. Because as stats show us, its pretty much the rarest of rare greats who do well everywhere.

 

I dont know how you got that ( cricinfo probably), but i would like to see Hayden,KP.

[Forever Indian]

KP planning for a long term IPL coach contract.