England’s legendary pacer James Anderson has revealed his pick for the greatest finisher in white-ball cricket.
During his appearance on BBC’s Tailenders podcast, the former pacer heaped praise on star Indian batter Virat Kohli, while admitting that he was in awe of his batting stats while chasing.
“I do not know if there is been a better batter in the history of the game batting second and chasing down scores than Virat Kohli,” Anderson said. “His record at chasing is absolutely phenomenal. The number of hundreds he has scored in the second innings, chasing down scores is ridiculous.”
It is worth mentioning here that Kohli’s 27 ODI centuries, out of 50 in 155 innings, along with 40 fifties came while batting second.
The star Indian batter has scored 7,852 runs, with an average of 64.36 while chasing down a target.
Mentioning his batting numbers, James Anderson said that the former Indian skipper could amass such scores due to his belief in himself.
Read more: Harbhajan reacts to Babar Azam surpassing Kohli’s records
“It is no surprise that when he gets in that situation, with his mentality, it is just like it is meant to be. His self-belief is so high,” Anderson added.
However, he mentioned Australia’s legendary batter Michael Bevan when asked if he considers Virat Kohli as the greatest batter in white-ball cricket.
“I cannot say that. I was thinking more in terms of just chasing. Michael Bevan from Australia comes to my mind, particularly in the late 1990s and early 2000s – he was just phenomenal coming in at number six and doing that job,” the England pacer added.
“Kohli batting at number 3 gets those hundreds while Bevan was renowned for getting his 50s, 60s and being at the end, while Kohli gets the big score, to get his teams over the line. I honestly can’t think of a better finisher and greater white-ball players than him (Kohli),” he concluded.
