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Former India wicketkeeper Saba Karim believes Virat Kohli's form in white-ball cricket has dipped in recent times. According to Karim, the Indian skipper will have to up the ante in the shorter formats of the game to be unanimously recognized as the best all-format player today.
Speaking on the Khelneeti podcast, Karim opined that in the last decade, AB de Villiers was the best batsman across all formats. However, Virat Kohli took over the mantle after the former South African captain retired from international cricket in 2018.
"ABD was the biggest multi-format player until he retired. After that, it's been Virat Kohli, but he needs to perform in white-ball cricket as his performance has dipped in recent times. Kane and Warner are other, all-format players in the world currently," said Saba Karim.
Virat Kohli is still the only batsman in the world to average above 50 in all formats of international cricket. He averages an astonishing 59.07 in ODIs, 52.65 in T20I, and 52.05 in Test cricket, respectively.
However, it is true that since the start of 2020, Virat Kohli hasn't been his usual self with the bat. Across 22 matches in all three formats, he has accumulated only 842 runs at an average of 36.62 without a single century.
The Indian skipper will hope to end his century drought soon and put on a strong performance with the bat in the upcoming series against England. Kohli and Co will want to achieve a Test series win in England after 14 long years.
The demand of power hitting in T20 works against Root and Smith: Saba Karim
During the discussion on the Khelneeti podcast, Saba Karim also touched upon the reasons for the stagnation of the T20 careers of Joe Root and Steve Smith. Despite being highly successful in Test cricket, the duo have not managed to nail down spots in the T20 teams of their respective nations.
"The demand of power hitting in T20 works against Root and Smith as they are not power hitters. And even if they want to be now, they can't considering the stage of career they are in," said Saba Karim
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