Michael Vaughan reignites debate between Joe Root and Virat Kohli as comparison sparks outrage on social media

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has taken a cheeky swipe at Virat Kohli on social media. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), he compared Kohli to Joe Root. Root recently reached a significant milestone on the opening day of the second Test against Sri Lanka on August 29.

He equalled Alastair Cook’s England record of 33 Test centuries. After this milestone, Vaughan compared Root’s stats with Kohli’s. He wrote the duo’s number of innings, runs, highest scores, averages and strike rates on a piece of paper and shared a picture of it on X. “Morning India,” he wrote.

Michael Vaughan’s comparison between Joe Root and Virat Kohli has now sparked fierce criticism. Many voiced their reactions in the comments section, with one writing: “Great, now Joe Froot’s limited overs career is showing me. Root is a home run batsman who scores 70 percent of his centuries in England.”

Another highlighted that Virat Kohli had better stats in all formats and wrote, “Kohli dominates in all 3 formats and the league. A bully in regular format 1.”

One social media user pointed out that Michael Vaughan had left out the 4s, writing: “You forgot to count the number of 4s. They are very important Michael. Remember, they won you a world title.”

Another wrote: “Root is better in Test cricket, that’s something to say without shame. Virat is a 3 format player, now 2, while Joe is mainly focused on the Test circuit.”

“Your goat must have scored a Test century in Australia. Oh no, my mistake! He’s just a home bully like you,” read another comment.

Coming back to the Test, there was a nervous moment when Joe Root had reached the 99-run mark. Root defied all the pressure and elegantly hit a boundary to reach his century, facing 162 deliveries. It was Root’s sixth Test century at this iconic stadium. His innings ended after he was caught by Pathum Nissanka at point for 143. Root’s 33rd century now puts him at joint 10th place in the list of players with most Test hundreds. He is currently the only active player on this list. Sachin Tendulkar tops the list with 51 centuries in 200 Tests between 1989 and 2013. As for Virat Kohli, he currently has 29 centuries in Tests.