Credit: X
Former South Africa opener Herschelle Gibbs, who was known for his fierce batting style during his playing days, has issued a statement that Rohit Sharma was always technically better than Virat Kohli. Both Rohit and Kohli retired from Test cricket recently. The India legends were struggling to be among the runs in their recently played red-ball matches. Following India’s loss in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, their underperformance was getting highlighted and their critics were demanding their removal from the Test team.
On X, a video from a fan surfaced in which both star players were compared through a clip in which Virat Kohli can be seen playing a cover drive in India whites while Rohit, on the same kind of delivery, answers the ball with a sweep shot. Going ahead, the fan asserted that both India players went through their worst days but Rohit acclimatised to the conditions and bowlers while Kohli didn’t. Replying to the fan, Gibbs wrote, "It’s up to the batting coach to give him more options to score no matter who the batter is.. thank me later."
However, things intensified after Gibbs was asked who is the better batsman between the two (Rohit and Kohli)? Answering the question, the Protea legend wrote, "Rohit was always more technically correct than Virat but Virat's desire to dominate especially in white ball format is a major difference between the two batters,"
Herschelle Gibbs’ comment rankled Virat Kohli’s supporters
Herschelle Gibbs’ opinion was countered by Kohli’s supporter, who remarked that Rohit has never had a settled batting position in cricket’s oldest format. Replying to the fan, Gibbs cited Kohli’s struggle to counter outside off-stump deliveries. "You ever see Rohit defend balls on 4th or 5th stump? How many times did Virat get out doing just that ? Rohit definitely technically better than Virat," wrote Gibbs.
Gibbs and Rohit Sharma were teammates from 2008 to 2010 in the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) defunct team Deccan Chargers, which was active in the league until 2012. In 2009, both cricketing legends won the IPL trophy for Chargers together.
