The Indian skipper, Virat Kohli is neither as powerful as Chris Gayle nor AB de Villiers’ “ability” but has still managed to become one of the most consistent batsmen in T20 cricket because of his supreme fitness levels, feels former India opener Gautam Gambhir. Kohli, who has been successful in Tests and ODIs, has also made a mark in T20 Internationals (T20Is), scoring 2,794 runs from 82 games with an average of 50.8.

During a chow in Star Sports, Gambhir said, “He (Kohli) was always a very smart cricketer, but then he turned his entire T20 career into a very successful one, just by being supremely fit. Probably because he does not have the strength of Chris Gayle, he doesn’t have the ability of AB de Villiers, he probably does not have the ability of Jacques Kallis or Brian Lara.”

The southpaw was asked what makes the India captain so effective in the shortest format of the game.

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Gambhir elaborated, “The biggest strength he’s got is now his fitness and he’s turned that into his game as well, that’s why he has become so successful, so you got to give it to the guy. The most important thing is that he runs really well between the wickets, not many people do it.”

Kohli has also been successful in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as he scored 5,412 runs from 177 games. According to Gambhir, Kohli is more consistent than his teammate and star batsman Rohit Sharma, when it comes to rotating the strike.

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Gambhir concluded by saying, “You see Rohit Sharma, probably Rohit Sharma doesn’t have that quality which Virat Kohli has to rotate the strike. Rohit Sharma has the ability to hit those big shots, but that’s where Virat Kohli is more consistent than Rohit Sharma. Chris Gayle or AB de Villiers don’t have that ability to rotate the strike, especially against spin bowling, but Virat Kohli has that, that’s why he averages 50.”