David Warner Says Openers Like Him and Rohit Sharma Make Batsmen Like 'Steve Smith and Virat Kohli Best in the World', Here's Why
According to Smith’s Australia’s teammate David Warner, it’s him and Indian opener Rohit Sharma who make Smith and Kohli the best batsman by taking the shine of the new ball. The Aussie southpaw made the claim jokingly while talking to Rohit during a live Instagram session.
Virat Kohli and Steve Smith are two of the best batsmen in the modern era and their record in international cricket is sensational too. The Indian skipper is the top-ranked batsman in ODIs while Smith holds the numero uno position in Test batting rankings. However, according to Smith’s Australia’s teammate David Warner, it’s him and Indian opener Rohit Sharma who make Smith and Kohli the best batsman by taking the shine of the new ball. The Aussie southpaw made the claim jokingly while talking to Rohit during a live Instagram session. Rohit Sharma Recalls IPL Hat-Trick Against Mumbai Indians in Instagram Live Session With David Warner.
“People say Kohli and Smith are the best in the world. But we make Smith and Kohli because we take the shine off the ball. We have got an important job as openers,” Warner jokingly said to Rohit and the latter was also left in splits. However, the veteran’s claim does make some sense. The openers have the onus to negotiate the brand new swinging ball. Also, the ball tends to get soft as the game progresses. Hence, the batsmen in the middle order don’t have to tackle the swinging deliveries.
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However, the other side of the coin is that the new ball also comes onto the bat nicely and hence, there are many scoring options. Also, in limited-overs cricket, the first 10-overs are power-plays where the opener can wreak havoc. While the field opens afterwards and gathering boundaries in the middle overs are not an easy task. So, it’s really not easy to say who does the harder job.
Meanwhile, all the star batsmen mentioned above were set to showcase their blitzes in the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) where they lead their respective sides. However, just like many other cricket tournaments, has also been postponed indefinitely owing to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 10, 2020 12:44 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).