Vaughan Never Scored A Single Century In ODIs: Salman Butt Slams Michael Vaughan For Comparing Kohli & Williamson
Salman Butt brushed aside Michael Vaughan's comments, saying that Virat Kohli's statistics as a batsman is far superior to any other player in international cricket.
Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt reckons Michael Vaughan’s recent comments on Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson need to be given any attention. Vaughan stated that Williamson would have been the “greatest player in the world” if he was from India.
The former England captain went on to add that not calling Kohli the greatest is an open invitation to get “pelted” by his fans on social media. Vaughan also predicted that Williamson will score more runs than Kohli in the upcoming English summer.
Vaughan’s comments sent waves across social media, with former India batsman Wasim Jaffer taking a funny dig at the ex-England captain. Butt, who played 33 Tests, 78 ODI and 24 T20Is for Pakistan and is believed to have sharp analytical skills, explained that Kohli is the best because he has the record to be called the best.
“Kohli belongs to a country which has a huge population. Obviously, he would have a bigger fanbase. On top of that, his performance is better too. Virat has 70 international tons at the moment, no other batsman from this era has that many.
And he has, for a long period, dominated the batting rankings because his performances have been outstanding. So I don’t understand what and where is the need to draw comparisons,” Butt said on his YouTube channel.
Salman Butt, the disgraced Pakistan captain who was handed a 5-year ban for involvement in the 2010 spot-fixing scandal, went on to take a jibe at Vaughan by questioning his credibility as a batsman himself.
“And who has compared the two? Michael Vaughan. He was a brilliant captain for England, but the beauty at which he used to bat, his output wasn’t on par. He was a good Test batsman but Vaughan never scored a single century in ODIs. Now, as an opener, if you haven’t scored a century, it’s not worth discussion. It’s just that he has a knack of saying things that stir up a debate. Besides, people have a lot of time to stretch a topic.
“Williamson is great. He’s a top-class batsman and the best in the world. There is no doubt. Williamson may take the points in terms of captaincy, but he (Vaughan) hasn’t discussed captaincy. In terms of players, there is a huge cap. Kohli’s stats and performance and the way he has won India matches, especially chasing, it’s outstanding. Since the time both are playing, no one has been as consistent as Kohli. What Vaughan has said is irrelevant,” Butt said.
As far as Williamson and Kohli’s stats are concerned, Kohli is far ahead of the Black Caps’ skipper in all three formats in terms of runs and overall centuries. He also has more runs than Williamson in the Tests played in England.
While Williamson has 7,115, 6,173, and 1,805 runs in Tests, ODIs, and T20Is respectively, the 32-year-old Indian captain has 7,490, 12,169, and 3,159 runs in Tests, 50-over and the shortest format respectively. In addition, Kohli’s international centuries stand at 70, 33 more than Williamson’s overall tally.
