A few days ago, on one of my many Whatsapp groups for cricket, I was involved in quite a discussion regarding Virat Kohli.

It started off with whether Kohli was worthy of the ICC Award for ODI Cricketer of the Year, and then moved to his press conference at the conclusion of the second test against South Africa.

Some felt that Kohli had lost his cool and should not behaved the way he did. While others, including me, felt that the journalist was needlessly poking him and Kohli did nothing wrong.

Amidst all the discussion, I passed a statement (in context) about Kohli being the best batsman in the world at the moment.

One friend said it was debatable, to which I replied that among the current crop, he is far ahead of the likes of Steve Smith, Joe Root, and Kane Williamson and what is debatable is whether Kohli is the best ever batsman or not.

Average Across Formats

In my mind, there is absolutely no doubt that Virat Kohli is the best batsman in the world at the moment. The one fact that I always state to support that statement is that he is the only batsman in the world who averages above 50 in every format of the game.

There is no other batsman in the world, past or present, who has managed that.


Among the current crop of leading batsmen that play all three formats, only Joe Root and AB De Villiers average above fifty in two formats.

The 'Index' shown in the above table is an average that has been determined by assigning a weight of 50% to the test average, 40% to the ODI average, and 10% to the T20 average. This Index shows that Kohli is well ahead of the rest of the world.

Undoubtedly, Steve Smith has a remarkable test average is arguably the better Test batsman; however when it comes to adapting your game across formats, Kohli is the absolute champion.

Average in Subcontinent and Outside

The biggest criticism of batsmen from the Subcontinent is that they have inflated averaged because they score in batsmen friendly conditions at home and fail when batting in foreign conditions.

Strangely enough that argument is never used for batsmen from Australia and England when they pile on the runs at home and fail miserably in the Subcontinent.

Well, the table below will highlight that Virat Kohli is just as good in the Subcontinent as he is outside of it.


If anything, the table above shows that the Australian Pair - Smith and Warner - perform exceptionally at home and in similar conditions; however their average drops significantly in the subcontinent.

The South Africans are a strange anomaly as both AB and Amla average more in the subcontinent than they do outside of it.

Williamson and Root have the least difference between their averages in the two conditions.

Centuries Across Formats

The fact that impresses me most about Virat Kohli is his ability to score international hundreds.

Whether it is an ODI or a Test, whether his team is batting first or chasing, whether the match is played in home conditions or foreign, Kohli scores an international hundred on an average every 5.7 innings!

That is remarkable considering that no other batsman with at least 40 international centuries scores a hundred as frequently as every 6th inning.


Kohli has scored 53 international centuries. In ODIs, with 32 centuries, he is behind only Sachin Tendulkar. In tests he has a long way to go; however his combined tally is right up there with the best the world has ever seen.

Only Tendulkar, Ponting, Sangakkara, Kallis, and Amla have more international centuries than Kohli does. All of them have also batted in significantly more innings than Kohli has.

Barring Tendulkar, Kohli will surpass all of them in the next 3-4 years.

He has scored test centuries against all 7 opposition that he has faced. He has not played tests against Pakistan and Zimbabwe. Out of his 21 test hundreds, 10 have been scored in India and 11 outside India.

He has scored ODI centuries against all 9 test playing nations. Out of his 32 ODI hundreds, 14 were scored in India and 18 outside India.

This is his most remarkable feat. His ability to score hundreds frequently against all opposition and in all sorts of conditions.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Virat Kohli is the best batsman in the world currently and perhaps also the best ever to play cricket.

Dale Steyn’s long-awaited return to the international test fold got off to the perfect start. The Phalaborwa Express removed Shikhar Dhawan after just 14 balls during his first comeback spell when he took a catch off his own bowling after Dhawan had ballooned a pull after being rushed by Steyn’s skidding pace.

The roar of the Newlands crowd reverberated around Cape Town and could be heard on even the highest peaks of Table Mountain once Steyn had safely held onto the catch. The collective joy of cricket fans would have been shared throughout the world as Steyn got his reward after being out the game for 13 agonizing months.



Provided Rabada, Philander and Morkel remain fit, it looks unlikely that India will be able to overcome the fearsome trio. Steyn’s long-term future, however, is in more doubt than it has ever been and no one will be more aware of that than Steyn himself.

The England test team showed their inability to handle Australian conditions once again in the Ashes, a series in which they were comprehensively beaten 4-0 by the home side. That performance was simply not good enough from England, but it is more to do with the fact that they are unable to cope with conditions outside of their own, and that is something they need to address.

Next up for the test team is the short journey to New Zealand, a series which will not have as much focus as the Ashes, but will still be a tough test in similar conditions. The New Zealanders are nowhere near as good as the Australians, but they certainly have players who can trouble England with both the bat and the ball. After a poor result in Australia, morale in the England camp is sure to be low, but the players have to regroup and focus all their attention on the Kiwis, and how they can beat them.

England look like going with a very similar starting eleven in New Zealand, and it has already been confirmed that Mark Stoneman and JamesVince will keep their places in the squad. While it would have been nice to see the selectors freshen things up after such a disappointing performance against the Aussies, at least this opportunity gives players the chance to redeem themselves against slightly lower quality opposition.

When you look down the England lineup, there is hope that they can head to New Zealand and pick up a series victory against the Kiwis. Their batsmen should feel more at home on the pitches there, they don’t offer as much pace and bounce, and the bowlers running in at them don’t have the ability that a Mitchell Starc possesses. Expect to see a lot of support for England from the experts.

They are the better team on paper, and despite coming here on the back of a tough defeat, they have players with character and experience who can help turn things around.




One player who will help the England cause is MarkWood, who returns to the squad after injuries prevented him from playing in the Ashes. Wood has genuine pace and is the quickest England bowler available to them, so expect to see him take wickets on the pitches in New Zealand. He could bring what was missing from the bowling attack in Australia, and that is pace and aggression, expect to see him play well in New Zealand.

While the test on the field is not as tough, the trip to New Zealand is going to be a huge mental test for England, and we will see what their players are made of. They need to show mental toughness and character if they are to win against the Kiwis, a win they could really do with after such a disappointing Ashes series.

So after a 9-match ODI winning streak, Pakistan have now lost the first two ODIs in New Zealand and all has broken lose.

All of a sudden, the batting looks shaky, the captain looks concerned, and the bowling isn't good enough to contain the Kiwis.

So what has gone wrong?

Before that, lets first focus on what is right with this ODI team.

For starters, they have a world class modern day opener and one-down batsman in Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam.

The bowling is top quality, at least on paper. Aamer, Hasan, Rumman, Faheem, and Shadab provide for great variety and potency.

In Shadab, Faheem, and Hasan, Pakistan also has depth in its batting, which will come to use if only the top order can fire.

Now then, what is going wrong?

The bowling leaked 315 runs in the first ODI and could not defend 150 in 25 overs in the second. That is definitely not top quality. Maybe the bowlers have not been able to find their feet yet in NZ conditions. Maybe Guptill and Monroe are too good for them. Could be a number of reasons.

But then, you can't afford to drop players like Kane Williamson, because they will take full advantage of the chances given to them and go on to score a century.

Pakistan also refuses to learn from its mistakes.

Azhar Ali has gotten out in exactly the same manner in both ODIs. His dismissal in the second ODI was so identical that one could be forgiven to mistake it for a replay of the first ODI.

Shoaib Malik continues to edge it behind the wicket whenever he bats outside Asia.

With Hafeez not bowling any more, Pakistan's ODI side may not be big enough for both him and Malik. Especially with the likes of Haris Sohail sitting on the sidelines.

Another issue that needs to be sorted is the captain's batting number. Six is not the right number for him and too low for a batsman of his ability.

He needs to bat in the top 4.

In 13 innings at number 6 in ODIs, he has scored 268 runs at an average of 26.8 with 1 half century.

In 9 innings at number 5, he has scored 421 runs at an average of 60.1 with 1 century and 3 half centuries.

In 7 innings at number 4, he has scored 197 runs at an average of 39.4 with 1 half century.

In 9 innings as an opener, he has scored 344 runs at an average of 43.0 with 1 century and 1 half century.

It is evident that Sarfraz is better at all other positions, besides number 6. He is best at number 5, which is where he batted when Azhar Ali captained the ODI team.

The reason he is lingering down at 6 is because of the presence of Hafeez and Shoaib Malik in the team.

I believe the batting order requires a reshuffle.

Sarfraz needs to be pushed up. Haris Sohail needs to be brought in. One of Hafeez or Malik needs to be dropped.

Or if one wants both Hafeez and Malik in the side, then drop Azhar and make Hafeez open.

This may somewhat improve Pakistan's batting performance and changes need to be made soon as we are only 18 months away from the World Cup in 2019.

2017 was quite a year for Pakistan Cricket.

They won the Champions Trophy for the first time joining India, Sri Lanka and the West Indies as the only teams to win all major ICC trophies.

Pakistan won their first ever Test Series in the West Indies as Misbah and Younis bid farewell to the game.

Fakhar Zaman hit a memorable maiden ODI ton in the final of the Champions Trophy.

Hasan Ali became the number 1 ranked ODI bowler becoming the first Pakistani pacer to reach that ranking since the hey days of Wasim Akram in the 90s.

Imam Ul Haq hit a debut ODI century giving Pakistan another talented batsman.

Babar Azam's limited overs stock continue to grow with more centuries.

New talents like Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan, and Rumman Raees continued to shine.

But the moment of the year for Pakistan cricket was surely this...


Aamer got Kohli twice in as many deliveries in a year when not many bowlers could claim to have got him even once.

It was an exceptional spell of bowling by Aamer as he dismissed the tournament's top 3 leading run scorers - Kohli, Rohit, and Dhawan - inside the first 10 overs and sealed the final for Pakistan.

Team Performance in 2017

In 2017, Pakistan's limited overs team had quite a turnaround with impressive performances in ODIs and T20, unlike in prior years.

Definitely that had something to do with the injection of new blood.

At the same time, Pakistan's test performance declined with the departure of stalwarts and despite winning their first ever series in the Caribbean, Pakistan also lost their first ever series in the UAE since it became their adopted home.




As you can see, Pakistan was the best performing T20 team, the 4th best in ODIs, and a low 7th in tests.

Batting Performance in 2017

In Tests, Pakistan's batting did not do much to write about. Azhar Ali was the leading run scorer with an average of 42.00. With the departure of Misbah and Younis, the likes of Azhar and Asad will have to take charge as the new blood will surely take time to settle down in international cricket.

In ODIs and T20s, Babar Azam emerged as Pakistan's new star. He was among the leading run scorers in the world in both formats - 9th in ODIs and 2nd in T20s. Surprisingly, Ahmed Shehzad was also one of the top scorers in T20s.



In ODIs, Babar's average was behind only Kohli, Sharma, and Root. And his tally of hundreds was behind only Kohli and Sharma.

Bowling Performances in 2017

In Tests, Yasir Shah continue to shine for Pakistan ending the year with 43 wickets to his name in only 6 test matches. Imagine how many he would have taken had he played as much as some of the other bowlers.

Yasir was the only bowler to pick up an average of 7 wickets or more in the tests he played. No other bowlers averaged even 6 wickets per match.


ODIs were dominated by Pakistan's newest pace sensation - Hasan Ali - who improved with every game that he played.

No pacer came even close to his tally of wickets, average, and strike rate. He even had the most 5 wicket hauls in the year.

The only bowler who had a better average and strike rate than Hasan was Afghanistan's spin maestro Rashid Khan.


In T20s, it was young leg spinner, Shadab Khan, who impressed finishing the year with the 5th highest wickets. He had a very impressive economy rate as well, which was bettered by only Rashid Khan.


It seems like Pakistan's test team will take some time to get back to the heights they had reached with Misbah at the helm, coupled with Younis as the guiding force for the batting line up.

However, in limited overs, Pakistan should continue to impress with all the new youngsters standing up to be counted.

Pakistan's ODI team has not been this exciting since the 90s.

They have a talented opener in Fakhar Zaman and another one waiting in the wings - Imam Ul Haq. They have one of the most impressive batsman produced by the country in Babar Azam. The bowling stocks are abundant with spinners like Yasir Shah, Imad Wasim, and Shadab Khan; and a pace battery comprising Mohammed Aamer, Hasan Ali, Rumman Raees, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Abbas, and plenty waiting in the wings.

To top it all, the likes of Hassan, Faheem, Imad, and Shadab are all quite handy with the bat.

Surely we are in for some exciting times for Pakistan Cricket.