Former England cricketer and a legendary all-rounder Ian Botham on Thursday said that he would have loved to play against Indian captain Virat Kohli. Botham also praised his captaincy saying that he is the correct leader to take Indian cricket forward.
“Virat takes the game to the opposition, he takes a stand for his players. I would have loved to play against him. He is the right guy to take Indian cricket forward,” Botham told The Times of India.
Botham, who was part of the famous all-rounder quartet of the 1980s along with Kapil Dev, Richard Hadlee and Imran Khan, admitted that he is privileged to have played during that era while revealing the intense competition he faced from the three.
“It was a privilege to play in that era. We spoilt the fans for around 10-15 years. I don’t think world cricket has seen so many allrounders rubbing shoulders at the same time. In every tour I used to see what Richard has done, what Kaps (Kapil) has done, what Immi (Imran) has done. There was a great rivalry,” the former England captain said.
Botham, who scored over 7000 international runs and 500 wickets during his illustrious career, also opined on the debate of the best all-rounder between former cricketer Andrew Flintoff and England's World Cup hero Ben Stokes.
“Ben (Stokes) is better than a mile to Freddy (Andrew Flintoff). Ben Stokes is the closest version of me, he plays like me with his heart on his sleeve. Flintoff was good but Stokes is just exceptional. He is the best cricketer in the world now,” he said.
