When AB de Villiers compared Virat Kohli and Steve Smith to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal
India's Virat Kohli and Australia's Steve Smith are often compared because of their exceptional performances with the willow in international cricket over the last decade and a half. The duo is part of the 'Fab 4', which also includes England's Joe Root and New Zealand's Kane Williamson.
Over the years, many fans and critics have often shared their views on Kohli and Smith, picking one over the other in what has been a seemingly never-ending debate. However, the Indian superstar's former Royal Challengers Bengaluru teammate AB de Villiers came up with an interesting response when asked to pick the better batter between the two greats.
In 2020, De Villiers was part of an Instagram Live session with commentator Pommie Mbangwa. The South African legend was put in a spot when asked for his views on the Kohli vs Smith debate. De Villiers, though, came up with a smart response, bringing two tennis legends into the picture. He compared Kohli to Roger Federer and opined that Smith was more like Rafael Nadal.
"It's a difficult one, but Virat is definitely the more natural ball-striker, there's no doubt about that. In tennis terms, I'd say he's more like a [Roger] Federer whereas Smith is like a [Rafael] Nadal," the former South African captain said [as quoted by ESPNcricinfo].
"Smith is mentally very strong and figures out a way of scoring runs - he doesn't look natural, but he ends up writing records and doing amazing things at the crease. I think mentally, Smith is one of the best I have ever seen. Virat has also scored runs all over the world and won games under pressure," De Villiers went on to add, while concluding his observation.
Nadal announced his retirement from tennis on Thursday, October 10. The Davis Cup final in November will be his farewell tournament. Federer played the last match of his career alongside Nadal in the Laver Cup in September 2022.
Kohli and Smith's record in international cricket
Both Kohli and Smith have produced exceptional numbers in international cricket. The former India captain is at No. 4 on the list of all-time leading run-getters in international cricket. In 535 matches (595 innings), he has amassed 27,041 runs at an average of 53.23, with 80 hundreds and 140 half-centuries.
Looking at the Aussie batter's numbers, he has featured in 339 matches (397 innings) across the three formats, scoring 16,362 runs at an average of 47.84, with 44 hundreds and 80 fifties. Amazingly, Smith began his career as a leg-spinner before finding success as a frontline batter.