Virender Sehwag reveals his current best batsman in world cricket

What's the story?

Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag has revealed his choice for the best batsman in present-day international cricket. After reeling off as many as nine names encompassing some of the premier players in the modern era, the 39-year old finally settled on Indian captain Virat Kohli as his number one batsman at the moment.

During a live video chat with his fans on Facebook, Sehwag said, "In my view, the best batsman currently in world cricket is one among Virat Kohli, David Warner, Joe Root, Steve Smith, Rohit Sharma, Kane Williamson, David Warner, AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla. But being an Indian, I will go with Kohli as the best across all three formats of the game. In my opinion, he is the number one batsman in world cricket at the moment."

The context

Although nationality may have influenced his selection to a certain extent, Sehwag's decision to pick Kohli as the best batsman largely stemmed from the 29-year old's remarkable prowess across all three formats of the game. In fact, the Indian skipper is the only batsman in the history of international cricket to simultaneously hold an average of more than 50 in Tests, ODIs and T20Is.

The heart of the matter

Apart from Kohli, Sehwag also named Rohit Sharma as well as Shikhar Dhawan as the batsmen to watch out for during India's tour of South Africa. Stating that he has become a fan of Rohit's penchant for hitting sixes with ease, the flamboyant batsman backed the elegant right-hander to seize the number six spot in the Test series against the Proteas.

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When asked about India's prospects in 2018, Sehwag referred to the challenges of playing away from home before insisting that his expectations would be met if the team managed to achieve even half of what they had accomplished in 2017. He also hoped that Kohli's team would make the country proud by winning a Test series or two from their demanding assignments in South Africa, England and Australia.

What's next?

Kohli's next assignment will comprise 3 Tests, 6 ODIs and 3 T20Is on South African soil. The first Test of the 3-match series is slated to take place at Cape Town from January 5 to 9. Meanwhile, the likes of Smith, Warner and Root will be seen in action from January 4 to 8 at Sydney for the final Test of the 2017/18 Ashes series.

Author's take

Even though he finalised his choice by alluding to his nationality, Sehwag's pick is not far from the mark. While Steve Smith's irrepressible form has helped him cut ahead of the pack in Test cricket, Kohli remains the only batsman to feature within the top five (number one in ODIs, two in Tests and three in T20Is) in the current ICC rankings for all three formats of the game.