In the foodchain of international batsmanship, they are the two dominating predators striding the field, colossi whose ravenous appetite for runs result in exploits that cruelly diminish others’ honest efforts. Steve Smith and Virat Kohli are dominating the game like few others (and those few are undisputed legends) have done—with every innings of one being compared threadbare with the other, the scales tipping this way or that after each passing game.
“I thought Kohli was the best batsman I’ve ever seen because of the way he plays in all forms, but Steve Smith...that’s another level,” Justin Langer had said after Smith’s twin centuries in the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston, Birmingham. It took two exemplary innings for the former Australia opener and current coach to rate his compatriot the best.
After Smith’s triumphant return to Tests since the heartbreak of a yearlong ban, normal service resumed in the Kohli vs Smith debate too. It had to—496 days since his previous Test...
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