Dinesh Karthik has weighed in on the 'Joe Root vs Virat Kohli' debate.© AFP
Amid his ongoing purple patch, England star Joe Root has entered the discussion as to who is the greatest Test batter of all time. Recently, Root surpassed Alastair Cook to become the England player with most Test tons, having scored ccenturies in each innings of the second Test against Sri Lanka. Still just 33, Root already has 34 Test centuries to his name, in addition to 12,377 runs in the longest format. Root, who is part of Test cricket's current 'Fab 4', is ahead of his contemporaries -- Steve Smith, Kane Williamson and Virat Kohli.
However, former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik confessed that although the statistics show that Root is the better player, he picked Kohli when asked to name the best Test batter.
"Numbers will tell you it's Joe Root, but my heart, the fact that he (Kohli) is someone I've seen playing in close quarters for the longest time now, over a decade. I know how he loves playing those big moments and big series. And if somebody asks him questions, he will come to you so strongly that you will be thinking, 'Wow, why did I even ask that question," Karthik said in a video on Cricbuzz.
Karthik also said that if he had to choose someone to bat for his life. he would pick his former India and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) teammate Kohli.
"If I were given a question of who would bat for my life, it would be Kohli. No doubt," he added.
Meanwhile, Kohli scored his last century against West Indies in July 2023. Since then, he has registered just one 50+ score his last four innings.
Overall, Kohli has 8,848 runs from 113 Tests, with 29 hundreds to his name. Meanwhile, Root has amassed 12,377 runs from 145 Tests, at a stunning average of 50.93.