Cricketer-turned-expert Simon Doull lavished huge praise on South African star batter Heinrich Klassen and has said, at the moment he is on par with legendary batter Virat Kohli in the ODI format. Klassen is known to take the game away from the opposition single-handedly due to his big-hitting skills, especially against the spinners. In the last year or so, the wicketkeeper-batter has climbed up the charts and is one of the top 10 batters in the ICC ODI Rankings for the batters.
On the other hand, Kohli is widely rated as the best ODI batter in the modern era. The former India captain's chasing ability is second to none. The vetaran batter has scored 14096 runs from 300 ODIs at an average of 58. He has scored 51 centuries – the most in ODI history.
Meanwhile, Klassen is in a rich vein of form, spanking five consecutive fifties. His ability to clear the ropes and finish games for South Africa in white-ball formats has received widespread appreciation from all quarters. In 59 ODIs, he has 2138 runs at an average of 44.54 and thus far scored four centuries and 11 fifties.
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“It’s hard to separate him (Klaasen) and Virat Kohli at the moment," Doull said on Sky Sports. “Some people have Klaasen at 1, some people have Kohli at 1, it doesn’t really matter. They can be first equal for mine because he is just an absolute gem, whether it be spin, I don’t think anybody hits the spinners off the backfoot better. He waits for that sort of slow pace, and he can hit downtown better than anyone in the world."
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Simon Doull opines South Africa has an edge over New Zealand in the second CT Semis
For the unversed South Africa will take on New Zealand in the second semis in Lahore on March 5. Doull feels South Africa have a slight edge due to thier superior bowling attack than New Zealand.
“So they (South Africa) are a cracking-looking side, they bat deep. New Zealand bat deep, and it’ll come down; who bowls better? And South Africa just seemed like they’ve got the wood as a genuine bowling attack. The issue with New Zealand, the one and only issue has been their death bowling. It was quite good against India, but on a flat surface, on a really good batting surface, will it be the same?" Doull said.
