Melbourne: Spin legend Shane Warne has rated
Steve Smith as a better Test batsman than India captain Virat
Kohli, saying when it comes to five day game the Australia
skipper "is the man".
Warne has listed his top 11 batsmen from those he has
either seen or played with or against.
Kohli's dismal tour of England in 2014 was the reason
behind Warne's assesment. On the contrary, Smith has made
three away Ashes hundreds and averages 43.31 in the UK.
"I don't assess greatness by stats, but rather by the way
someone played the game, the way they influenced results and
the impact they had on all of us," he wrote.
"To me a great batsman has to have made a hundred in
three key countries: in England, against the Duke ball on
seaming and swinging pitches; in Australia, on our fast-paced,
bouncy tracks; and of course, in the dust bowls of India, on
pitches that spin and spit," added Warne, who played 145 Tests
for Australia between 1992 and 2007.