Dinesh Karthik joined the debate on picking a better batsman between Virat Kohli and Joe Root in Test cricket. It was started by Michael Vaughan, who shared stats of the two batters on social media. His post came after Root slammed his 34th hundred in red-ball cricket, taking him ahead of Alastair Cook to become the England batter with most three-digit scores in the five-day format.

Vaughan also added Adam Gilchrist to the debate, and the Australian legend was in favor of Virat.

DK was also asked the same question in Cricbuzz’s ‘HeyCB with DK’ show. Dinesh Karthik kept Joe Root ahead of Virat Kohli based on stats, but he added a twist in the end.

“Numbers say Joe Root, but I have known Virat for more than a decade. I have seen him playing from close quarters, and he loves to be a part of big moments and big series. If I had to pick a cricketer who would bat for my life, it would be Virat Kohli,” he said.

Root is the seventh-highest run-getter with 12377 runs in 145 Tests. He needs 3544 runs to go past Sachin Tendulkar, who heads the overall list.

Kohli is the 19th place with  8848 runs in 113 five-day games for India.