The 71st international century continues to elude former Indian skipper Virat Kohli but that did not stop former Australian cricketer Shane Watson as his choice for best batter in Test cricket. Watson rated Kohli as the best batter among the ‘big five’ which includes Steve Smith, Joe Root, Kane Williamson and Babar Azam.
"In Test match cricket, I am always going to say Virat Kohli," Watson replied to Isa Guha’s question to choose his current best batter in the longest format of the game.
"It's nearly superhuman, what he is able to do because he has such high intensity every time he goes out to play," Watson added.
While Kohli is on the top of Watson’s list, the 33-year-old is ranked 10th on the list of ICC Test batter rankings. The list is headed by Marnus Labuschagne, who is not a part of the big five. Smith is ranked second, followed by Williamson, Root and Azam.
After Kohli, the former Australian all-rounder rated Pakistan skipper Azam as the second-best Test batter in the world from the current lot.
"Babar Azam is playing incredibly well,” the Delhi Capitals (DC) assistant coach said. "(It's great) to be able to see how he has adapted his game to really move his game to Test cricket as well”.
"Babar Azam would probably be No.2 at the moment."
Azam has been in splendid form of late. He scored a match-saving 196 against Australia in the three-Test series at home.
The 40-year-old feels that former Australian skipper Smith is not "at his absolute best" and that's the reason he is not ranked above on his list.
"It looks like Smith has really started to play for time a little bit more and is not putting as much pressure on the bowlers as he did when was at his absolute best. For me, Steve has dropped down that list a little bit,” Watson explained why he ranked Smith third.
Furthermore, Watson ranked Williamson fourth among 'big five' followed by Root.
