“He can put the pressure back on the opposition” - Veteran England bowler picks between Virat Kohli & Babar Azam for the batter tougher bowl to

Veteran England spinner Adil Rashid picked between Virat Kohli and Babar Azam for the tougher batter to bowl to. He went with the star Indian batter over Babar for his ability to put the opposition under pressure and win matches.

Adil lauded Kohli for his skills, particularly while chasing. He stated that a bowler would want to get him out early. Kohli is known for his immaculate record in chases, especially in white-ball cricket.

He has scored 8064 runs in 167 matches while chasing in ODIs. These runs have come at an average of 64 and a strike-rate of 93.23. Notably, 28 out of his 51 centuries in the format have come while chasing, with a top score of 183.

"For me, who I found more difficult to bowl to would be Kohli purely just because of the game situations firstly. He can put pressure back on the opposition. not only by hitting fours and sixes but you know you need to get him out because if he is chasing, if he stays for 10-15 overs it's going to be the game. So you think lets get him out early. 70-80% percent of the time if he is chasing, you know they will win the game. Babar is not known for that. So I would say Kohli was the harder one to bowl to for me," the England spinner said on the 'Beard Before Wicket' podcast. (19:29)

Notably, the England spinner has dismissed Kohli as many as 11 times across formats. This includes five dismissals in ODIs, four in Tests, and two in T20Is. Overall, Kohli has amassed 14181 runs from 302 games at an average of 57.88 with 51 tons and 74 half-centuries.

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England stars opine on Jasprit Bumrah vs Brett Lee debate

In the same episode, England stars Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali were also asked who they felt was the better bowler between Jasprit Bumrah and Brett Lee. Moeen reckoned that people tend to forget how good a player was once he retires and compare them with current players.

While he believed that Bumrah is outstanding and the one bowler who comes close to the legendary names, he stated that sometimes former and current players cannot be compared.

On the other hand, Adil Rashid picked Brett Lee over Bumrah in white-ball cricket based on the number of years Lee played for.

"Bumrah has done it for five or six years. People like Brett Lee did it for 15 years. Why I said Lee over Bumrah, they've probably got similar numbers but Lee did it for extra ten years. With Bumrah, he's got to do it for another ten years. You've got to do it to get close to Lee. Lee has been proven even in terms of longevity. In white-ball cricket with the new ball, he was gun, and even at the backend. I would still go with Lee over Bumrah. Bumrah like I said has done it for five years or whatever but Lee has for a number of years. If you look at where Lee was and Bumrah is after six years, then that would be different," the England spinner said. (33:55)

Lee played 221 ODIs and picked up 380 wickets at an average of 23.36, an economy rate of 4.76, and a strike-rate of 29.4 with nine five-wicket hauls. Meanwhile, Bumrah has played 89 ODIs so far. He has bagged 149 wickets at an average of 23.55, an economy rate of 4.59, and a strike-rate of 30.7 with two fifers.