A number of cricketers have recently weighed in on the topic, including Gautam Gambhir, who had picked Rohit over Kohli in white-ball cricket. Now, Kaif has made his pick as well, and he based it on Rohit’s stylishness and the ease with which he takes on fast bowling.

“If there are two matches happening in the same city simultaneously and Virat is playing in one and Rohit in another, then I will head to the match featuring Rohit Sharma,” Kaif said on YouTube channel SportScreen.

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“No doubt, Virat has an outstanding record in Tests and white-ball cricket, but Rohit has the elegance, so much time while facing a bowler. He is one batsman who can smash a bowler without the bowler even realising that he is under attack.”

Kaif, who played 125 ODIs and 13 Tests for India during the 2000s, was renowned for his supreme fielding skills. He was such a valued asset on the field that it gave him several lifelines when his career was hanging by a thread owing to a loss of batting form.

Along with Yuvraj Singh, Kaif formed a fabled duo that raised Indian fielding standards to levels not seen previously. Looking at the current lot, however, Kaif rued the lack of a fielder who could truly do it all.

If you had to pick between Kohli and Rohit in white-ball cricket, who would you pick? https://t.co/nJXqw80QSc

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) May 4, 2020

“To be a complete package, you need to be a good catcher, you should be able to hit the stumps often, you should be able to run fast, you should have the right technique to grab a moving ball,” Kaif said.

“When we were playing, me and Yuvraj made our mark as good fielders. Today, you will find a lot of good fielders in the Indian team, but I don’t think there is anyone who is a complete package as a fielder. A person who can catch in the slips, who can take a catch at short-leg, can field in long-on boundary by running fast: that package, I think, is missing.”

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Kaif made a special mention of Ravindra Jadeja, who he said is getting better with age, but rued the lack of reliable slip fielders. “Ravindra Jadeja is a good fielder,” he said. “In fact, as he is adding on the years, his fielding is also improving. But India’s slip fielding isn’t up to scratch.”