New Delhi: Former India opener and now Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Gautam Gambhir, who is known for his honest and hard-hitting statement, hailed Virat Kohli as one of the best batsmen in limited-overs cricket and said the Indian captain scores over the likes of Chris Gayle, Rohit Sharma and AB de Villiers because of his ability to rotate the strike.

Rating Kohli above Gayle, de Villiers and Sharma, Gambhir said that Kohli's ability to score consistently separates him from the world's best. Speaking at Star Sports show ‘Cricket Connected chat show, Gambhir said, “You look at Rohit Sharma. He does not have the quality which Virat Kohli has, of rotating the strike. Rohit Sharma has those big shots, but that’s why Virat is more consistent than Rohit. Chris Gayle doesn’t have that ability to rotate the strike, AB de Villiers doesn’t have the ability to rotate strike off each delivery against spin-bowling, Virat Kohli has that, and that’s why he averages over 50.”

Gambhir said that rotating the strike was so important and not many players around the world could do that. “People do not give a lot of importance to dot balls. If you play fewer dot balls, you can reduce a lot of pressure. The easiest thing to do in cricket is a six or a four.  But there are very few cricketers in world cricket who can rotate the strike off every bowl. That’s what Virat Kohli does really well."

However, Gambhir was of the view that Kohli still has a lot to achieve as captain. Comparing him with the likes of Brian Lara and Jacques Kallis, Gambhir said these legendary players also accomplished many individual records but were not part of successful trophy-winning sides.

“You can keep scoring those big runs, but in my opinion, till you win those big trophies you will never be able to fulfill your entire career,” he added.