Impressed with Mohammed Shami’s heroics at Centurion, the Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli said that he strongly felt that the UP-born pacer was among the world’s best three fast bowlers.
Speaking at the post-match presentation after the first Test, Kohli was full of praise for the 31-year-old quick and lauded his “impactful performance” which played a key role in India’s historic triumph.
“Very, very happy for him to get 200 wickets and have an impactful performance. He is absolutely world-class talent. For me, he’s in the best three seamers in the world at the moment. His strong wrist, his seam position and his ability to hit a length consistently,” Kohli said of Shami at the post-match presentation.
When asked to reflect on the performance of the fast bowling as a whole, Kohli said: “Just the way these guys bowl together, it’s just a hallmark of our team getting a result from that position, not just in this game but also in the last two-three years.”
Who is the world’s best fast bowler? The answer to this simple question is not as easy as many think it to be. More than a player’s on-field performance, there are several external factors that affect the reply. A lot depends on the person who you are asking. Naturally a cricket fan or pundit from Australia or India would pick a bowler from their own country.
This is the reason why it is really difficult to get a clear majority on any name and the same happened after Kohli made a bold claim about his fellow countrymen. While the majority of the Indian fans agreed with the Kohli’s assessment, some believed that there were other better bowlers like Mitchell Starc, James Anderson, Pat Cummins who were more worthy of a place in the world’s top three.
