For Clarke, Kohli is the best ever ODI batsman

New Delhi, January 20 

Virat Kohli is certain to end up among the all-time greats of the game. For former Australia skipper Michael Clarke, though, the Indian skipper is already the “greatest ODI batsman to have ever played the game”. “To me, Virat Kohli is the greatest batsman to have ever played One-day cricket. I have no doubts after seeing what he has achieved for India,” said Clarke.

Kohli has already scored 10,385 runs in 219 ODIs with an astounding average of 59-plus, including 39 hundreds. An unabashed Kohli fan, Clarke said the 30-year-old Indian’s passion is unmatchable. “You have to respect Virat’s passion to win games for his country. Yes, he has aggression but no one can question his commitment, how much he has achieved. He is the greatest in ODIs,” Clarke said.

While Kohli’s craft continues to evoke awe, his predecessor MS Dhoni’s current form has the cricketing world divided. “MS knows how to react to any given situation. He has played 300 plus ODIs, so he knows how to go about his job,” Clarke said.

But would Dhoni have been as effective as he was in the third ODI against Australia if the target India were chasing was 330 instead of 230? “I think he would have played differently. It was 230 and he had a particular strategy; it would have been different if the target had been bigger,” he said.

“Look at his approach in the second game in Adelaide and the third game in Melbourne. It was different,” Clarke said. Asked if India were favourites to win the World Cup, Clarke said, “Certainly one of the favourites with the kind of bowling talent they have at the moment. The batting was always strong and they also have wonderful young spinners,” he said. — PTI