There are some incredible batsmen in world cricket today and the debate over who among them is the best in fact never ceases to end. Virat Kohli, Steve Smith and Joe Root are some of the best cricketers, scoring runs, showing their ability to excel in all conditions and are earning a huge name for themselves in international cricket. England pacer Stuart Broad is the latest cricketer to join the debate and the seamer feels his fellow countryman Root is the best amongst the current lot -- better than Kohli and Smith.
Broad's choice of Root can always be debatable, with Kohli being regarded by many as one of the best players currently. But, Root has stats to press his case, as the right-hander has scored 1,477 Test runs in 2016 compared to Kohli's 1,215 runs. Root is the highest run scorer in 2016, and Kohli ranks fourth. Smith, with 924 runs, is seventh in the list.
It is not only these stats alone which urged Broad to pick Root ahead of Kohli and Smith. With the pacer having seen him at the nets and match days, playing some brilliant knocks in all conditions from close quarters, Broad believes Root has become the best player.
"I'd say Joe Root, but just because I've played a huge amount of cricket with him. I know that he makes runs in a lot of conditions, pretty much all conditions, and he has scored runs at really big times for us as an England team," Cricket Australia's official website quoted Broad as saying.
"I think when you've played closely with someone for that long period of time, you see a lot of their strengths. He in my mind is built up to be the best player I've seen because I see him every day."
Despite Kohli having scored 655 runs in the five-match Test series against England, Broad still feels the India Test captain has some loopholes in his batting.
"One thing about Virat, the only dismissal you feel in the game with is a nick. He's so strong off the pads and he doesn't really get bowled a huge amount. In the conditions we played there, his hunger for runs was just spectacular," Broad said.
