Would currently pick Steve Smith over Virat Kohli, states Brett Lee
Former Australian pacer Brett Lee has stated that he would, as of this moment, opt for Steve Smith over Virat Kohli, purely due to the challenges that the Australian has had to overcome in his career. Lee further attested that Smith could one day become as great as Sir Donald Bradman.
The 2014 Border-Gavaskar trophy gave the first glimpse of what would then go on to become the best individual battle in all of cricket, the face-off between two run machines, Steve Smith and Virat Kohli. Post that series, a series in which each of the two batters amassed over 690 runs, both Smith and Kohli have ruled world cricket, not only establishing themselves as the two best batsmen in the world, but also throwing in their name to be considered as all-time greats.
Their immaculate success and ability has seen experts often be divided on who to pick as ‘the guy’, but former Aussie pacer Brett Lee had no doubts in opting for the 30-year-old Australian. According to Lee, who played alongside Smith in the 2011 Cricket World Cup, he would pick Smith over Kohli as of the moment sheerly due to the amount of tough challenges the right-hander has had to overcome, including bouncing back from a one-year ban. Furthermore, Lee also attested that Smith could one day be as good as the great Sir Don Bradman.
"Steve Smith has been through a lot in the last couple of years, he has seen a rise with the way he played in the last 12 months, he is so fidgety, sometimes you are like just relax mate," Lee told Pommie Mbanwga on Instagram Live, reported TOI."
"At the moment I would choose Smith over Kohli because of what he has been through and what he has to overcome, they are two great players, I think Smith can be as good as Don Bradman, there have been talks of him becoming just like Bradman looking at the numbers," he added.
However, despite opting for the ‘fidgety’ Australian over the Indian, the 43-year-old heaped praise on the Indian skipper Kohli and branded him a technically sound batsman who is also a great leader. Lee also noted that Kohli would perhaps love to win the IPL some day.
"Kohli is technically sound, he hits through the V, he used to knick off earlier in his career, but it is hard to do that now, he is a great leader of his side, I think he would love to win the IPL.”
After retiring from all forms of cricket at the end of the 2014/15 season of the Big Bash League, Lee has since established himself as a prominent commentator.