“The best player in the world is getting back to his best” – Salman Butt on Virat Kohli

Salman Butt has praised Virat Kohli for his 45th ODI century, which came in the first ODI against Sri Lanka in Guwahati on Tuesday, January 10.

The former Pakistan captain pointed out that the modern batting maestro once again looked in the flow. He feels the Delhi batter will only get better heading into the 2023 ODI World Cup on home soil.

The statement came after Virat Kohli’s back-to-back centuries in ODIs. He scored 113 off 87 balls, including one maximum and 12 boundaries against the Islanders. Last month, the right-hander hit his 44th ODI ton, which came against Bangladesh after a gap of 40 months.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Butt said:

“The best player in the world is getting back to his best. It was a lengthy dip by his standards. Any other player would be proud of the performance he had in between as well. In Kohli’s standards, a century was missing and he was not in the flow.”

He added:

“The more he gets the hundred, the more fluency we’ll see. He will start expressing himself fully, which we witnessed. He played various shots and looked good all the way.”

With 45 tons in the format, Kohli is only behind Sachin Tendulkar (49 hundreds in ODIs).

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“Virat Kohli made the most of it” – Salman Butt hails India openers

Salman Butt, meanwhile, praised Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill for giving Team India a solid start in the first ODI against Sri Lanka. He added that the duo set the tone for Virat Kohli and the rest of the middle-order batters to express themselves.

While Rohit scored 83 runs, Gill contributed 70. Together, the duo added 143 runs for the opening stand.

On this, Butt said:

“The start was outstanding. Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill’s had an outstanding opening partnership, scoring 140-odd runs in 19 overs. The duo played well and set the platform. Virat Kohli made the most of it.”

The top three batters helped India post a mammoth 373/7 in their allotted 50 overs. In response, Sri Lanka could only score 306/8, courtesy of a century from captain Dasun Shanaka.

The two teams will face off in the second ODI at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday, January 12.