'You can't compare Kohli with any other player' - Salman Butt shuts up Vaughan for irrelevant comparison with Williamson

Former England captain Michael Vaughan stirred a huge controversy when he said that Kane Williamson would have been the greatest player if he was an Indian, adding that one cannot state that Virat Kohli is not the 'greatest' as that would be greeted with an 'absolute pelting' on social media.

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Former Pakistan opener Salman Butt has given his reaction to Vaughan's comments. Butt said that comparing Kohli with any other batsman is a waste of time as Kohli's statistics are far superior to any other player in international cricket.

Virat is the only batsman to average more than 50 in all three formats and the only active player to have more than 22,000 international runs. He also has 70 centuries to his name.

"Kohli belongs to a country which has a huge population. Obviously, he would have a bigger fanbase. On top of that, his performance is better too. Virat has 70 international tons at the moment, no other batsman from this era has that many.

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And he has, for a long period, dominated the batting rankings because his performances have been outstanding. So I don’t understand what and where is the need to draw comparisons," Butt said on his YouTube channel.

Butt further questioned Vaughan's credibility as a batsman, citing that he doesn't even have a single ODI hundred. He added that Vaughan says such things as he wants to be in the limelight.

"And who has compared the two? Michael Vaughan. He was a brilliant captain for England, but the beauty at which he used to bat, his output wasn't on par. He was a good Test batsman but Vaughan never scored a single century in ODIs. Now, as an opener, if you haven't scored a century, it's not worth discussion. It’s just that he has a knack of saying things that stir up a debate. Besides, people have a lot of time to stretch a topic.

"Williamson is great. He's a top-class batsman and the best in the world. There is no doubt. Williamson may take the points in terms of captaincy, but he (Vaughan) hasn't discussed captaincy. In terms of players, there is a huge cap. Kohli's stats and performance and the way he has won India matches, especially chasing, it's outstanding. Since the time both are playing, no one has been as consistent as Kohli. What Vaughan has said is irrelevant," Butt said.