Rohit Sharma more impactful limited-overs batsman than Virat Kohli: Gautam Gambhir

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New Delhi, May 03: Former India opener Gautam Gambhir believes Team India's limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma has been more impactful in white-ball cricket compared to Virat Kohli despite his skipper's staggering statistics in shorter formats. Gambhir, however, predicted that Kohli will end up scoring more runs than Rohit.

"... for me, white-ball cricket is all about impact. Kohli will end up getting many more runs than Rohit, and Kohli is among the greatest right now, but Rohit has an edge over Kohli because of the impact he has," Gambhir told Sports Tak.

"I think he (Rohit) is the best white-ball cricketer in the world right now. He is not the greatest overall but at the moment he is the best. He is the only player to have hit 3 ODI double hundreds, 5 World Cup hundreds (in one edition) and he is also the only player, who once gets past 100-run mark, people say that he missed a double century."

Talking further about Kohli and Rohit, the 2011 World Cup winner said, "It is very difficult to compare both of them. Virat Kohli is unbelievable. His stats prove that. "But when your reputation is such that when you get out after a hundred, people say he has missed out on double hundred, that speaks volumes about you."

The 33-year-old Rohit has scored 9115 runs from 224 ODIs at an average of 49.27 at a strike rate of 88.92. He has 29 centuries and 43 fifties to his name. In T20Is, Rohit has scored 2273 runs from 108 matches at an average of 32.62 and a strike rate of 138.78.

The 31-year-old Kohli, on the other hand, has scored 11867 runs from 248 ODIs at an average of 59.33 at a strike rate of 93.25. He has scored 43 centuries and 58 half-centuries. Kohli has also scored 2794 runs from 82 T20Is at an average of 50.80 and a strike rate of 138.24.

(With inputs from PTI)