Why Virat Kohli can be the greatest batsman of all time

The title must've raised many eyebrows, and probably might put me under severe scrutiny, even hate. There are many things one has to consider to put a "GOAT" tag on anyone. The standards set by earlier legends are very high, but cricket doesn't shut its doors for the future, does it? No sport does. How great a player may be, there is always chance that he/she might be outmatched by someone in the future.

In all his 383 innings Kohli has batted, he has scored over 18000 international runs. Out of the batsmen who have batted less than 383 innings in their career, Sir Vivian Richards, the legend, has the most number of runs, with 15261, about 3000 less than Kohli's tally.

Kohli averages 55.47 in combined international matches. Nobody with 10000 international runs averages over 50. 13691 of his runs is cumulative of his 143 scores of fifty or more. That speaks of his habit of not throwing his wicket away easily when he scores over 50 runs in an innings. He averages 132.22 whenever he scores over fifty, which is the highest for any cricketer with more than 7000 international runs.

There is no doubt about his ability to bat under pressure. Tough chases, tough conditions, facing sledges seem to walk in the park for Kohli. Sledging had no effect on Tendulkar. He would continue batting and completely ignore the sledges. Viv Richards would do the same too, but no bowler enjoyed taking a dig on him. I don't need to repeat his incident with Greg Thomas.

Kohli thrives under pressure. He won't immediately react but would concentrate hard to get the job done. He gives it all back with his celebrations. Also, Kohli is constantly improving with time. Year after year, it looks that it has been an amazing year for him, and yet he still breaks the standards that he set last year. Virat Kohli has scored 3145 runs across all the formats (with 12 tons and 11 fifties) which is 1,000 runs more than any player since September 2017.

Added responsibility doesn't disturb his batting, but gives him one more reason to perform better. His records before and after taking up captaincy, speak volumes about his ability. As captain, Kohli has scored 3,509 runs in 52 ODIs with 9 tons at a scintillating average of 88.36.

As a player, he has accumulated 7,570 runs with 26 hundred at an average of 52.93. Earlier this year, Kohli completed his 3,000 ODIs in just 49 innings and became fastest to reach 3,00 runs as captain. He was also quickest to reach 1,000 and 2,000 runs as captain.

Virat Kohli has been simply phenomenal in Test matches too ever since he has become captain. In 40 matches as a captain, he has 4,049 runs at an impressive average of 64.26 with 16 centuries which include 6 double centuries, with a highest of 243 against Sri Lanka. As a player, his batting average falls to 41.13 in 31 matches with only 7 centuries.

His command over the ball while batting is totally fantastic to watch. The deliveries that would've been "unplayable" for other batsmen, he gets a thick edge at max. The adjustments he makes in the crease, his batting stances and bat grips all add to his advantage, all prove the fact that he is very aware of his batting abilities.

Some would agree, many may not, but the career of Virat Kohli has been like "Tibetan Plateau", consistently high. If this continues, he is surely set to be the batting "GOAT" in cricket.