With an exceptional run-of-form in the recently finished Ashes series, Steve Smith edged past Virat Kohli to reclaim the top spot in the ICC Rankings. With the two batsman- Virat Kohli and Steve Smit-both being in an destructive form as created a little ambiguity as to as to who is the best five-day batter in world cricket.

Former cricketers have their own say on Kohli vs Smith debate. Joining the recent discourse is former South Africa player and one of the all-time fielding greats Jonty Rhodes who has picked Virat Kohli over Steve Smith with technique of the two batsman as the basis.

Talking about Smith's unorthodox batting style, Jonty said the Australian has scored the ugliest hundreds he has ever seen.

"I enjoy watching Virat Kohli. Steve Smith, with that action and technique, makes the ugliest hundreds I have ever seen but the man just keeps scoring runs," The New Indian Express quoted Jonty Rhodes as saying.

"Someone who likes to watch cricket would want to say 'Wow! What an amazing shot' as opposed to 'Oh! How on earth can he hit that?' So Virat Kohli right now." he added.

Steve Smith finished the Ashes with 774 runs from the 4 matches he played in, bagging a slew of records. On the course he also became the highest run-scorer in a single Test series in the 21st century. Incidentally, on his way to 774 runs, Smith went past his own record of scoring 769 runs against India during the 2014-15 Border-Gavaskar series.

Smith finished the Ashes 2019 with 2 hundreds, a double hundred and 3 half centuries. Smith, however, missed breaking the overall record for most runs scored in 4 Tests of a series - currently owned by West Indian great Viv Richards, who made 829 in four Tests for West Indies in England in 1976.

Like Steve Smith, Virat Kohli also has the reputation of scoring hundreds for fun. While Smith has 26 hundreds in 68 Test matches, Kohli has 25 hundreds in 79 Test matches. The two also have some other remarkable similarities.

Both started their captaincy stints in the same series - the India tour of Australia in 2014-15 - and scored hundreds in their first innings in charge. Kohli made three-figures in each of his first three innings, while Smith had three centuries in his first five.