Not Kohli, but Joe Root is the world's best batsman, says Pak ex-cap Mohd Yusuf

Not Kohli, but Joe Root is the world's best batsman, says Pak ex-cap Mohd Yusuf

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According to former Pakistani captain Mohammad Yousuf, Englishman Joe Root, who played a match-winning knock of 254 in the 2nd Test against Pakistan, is the best batsman in the world across all the three formats. The 41-year-old also spoke about the Pakistani batsmen's inability to deal with bounce.

"He is the best batsman in all three formats of the game.

“His balance, his shot selection and his timing all work well together and his double hundred against Pakistan at Old Trafford was a gem of an innings.

"Root has been around for just a few years but already his batting averages in all three formats speaks for his class," Mohammad Yusuf told PTI.

Joe Root made a classy double century in the first innings of the 2nd Test to help England post a mammoth score of 589. He then came out and played a swashbuckling 71 in the second innings, from just 48 balls, as England gave Pakistan a target of 564 runs to chase in the fourth innings, which, eventually, led to a comfortable 330-run win for the home side.

Mohammad Yusuf insisted that players like Root, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers are dominating in all the formats because they are successful in Tests. He said, "I have always said that if a batsman can be successful at Test level he can be successful in any format. I think the way Root or the others get runs consistently it proves my point.”

Speaking about Pakistan, Mohammad Yusuf felt that their batsmen's inability to deal with bounce and movement led to the heavy defeat in the 2nd Test match at Manchester.

"I think our batsmen find it difficult to cope whenever the pitch has some bounce and movement. The pitch prepared for the second Test in Manchester is good for batting and England showed this with their big totals.

"Our batsmen have struggled because of the bounce and the fact that most of them are not trying to dominate the bowlers.

“A quality batter just does not hang around to get 50 or 100 he should be dominating the bowlers in his innings the way Root did in both innings," Yusuf explained, reported PTI.

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