Gautam Gambhir as heaped praises on Steve Smith after his back to back centuries against India in the ODI series. The former India cricketer even made a striking statement as he asserted that Smith as an ODI batsman is not far away from Virat Kohli.

The Indian captain is often rated as the greatest ODI batsman of all time but Gambhir believes Smith is no less than Kohli in 50 overs cricket. So far Smith has had an extraordinary Test career but he has failed to replicate those numbers in white-ball cricket.

Gautam Gambhir feels Steve Smith, not far away from Virat Kohli in ODIs

Kohli on the other hand is a carbon copy of himself in all formats which makes him extraordinary. Though, after Smith’s brilliance against India in the ODI series, Gambhir claimed that he is not praised enough in ODI cricket and can even be compared to Virat Kohli. Gambhir was in awe of the way Smith batted against India and took the match away in the middle phase which he deems is the most difficult phase.

“Steve Smith has found something against India which India hasn’t found against him. Yes, he was absolutely correct when he said he has found his hands”, Gambhir told ESPNCricinfo.

“He got his hundred in 18 overs. He came into bat at the 20th over and got his hundred in the 38th over. In 18 overs, you get your own hundred and that’s probably the toughest phase to bat as well where the ball is a little older, you have got two spinners”, he added.

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“This is pure class. He is not far away from Virat Kohli. We keep talking about Virat Kohli, is Virat Kohli the best ODI batter in the world ever? Smith is not that far behind. Getting a hundred in 18 overs and getting 2 back-to-back hundreds in 18 overs is no joke”, Gambhir said.

Meanwhile, there’s no doubting that Smith is a class player but comparing him with Kohli in ODIs doesn’t seem appropriate to say the least. Kohli has almost 12k runs in ODI cricket with an average of touching 60 including 43 hundred. On the other hand, Smith has 4371 ODI runs at an average of 44 with 11 centuries. Overall numbers suggest that Smith still has a long way to go before he can be compared with Kohli who stands head and shoulders above the rest in ODI cricket.

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