Gilchrist's praise of Kohli's century sparks fiery exchange with Vaughan over Root's achievements

Root's twin tons at Lord's played a pivotal role in England clinching the three-match series against Sri Lanka. These centuries also propelled him two ahead of Kane Williamson and Steve Smith for the most centuries among the Fab Four, with Kohli trailing at 29. Furthermore, these impressive innings have put him within reach of surpassing Cook for the most-ever runs in Test cricket by an England batter, needing just 96 runs to achieve this milestone. Root also finds himself 3544 runs away from matching Sachin Tendulkar's historic feat.

In the wake of the 'Kohli versus Root' debate and the England-Sri Lanka series, Gilchrist, speaking on a podcast on Club Prairie Fire, was asked to pick between the two modern-era greats. The Aussie legend, along with Vaughan, picked Kohli over Root in T20I cricket and ODIs, but were left at loggerheads when deciding to pick the better Test batter.

Vaughan sided with Root, with Gilchrist replying, "In the last short while, definitely". He then continued to add: "Over a long period of time Joe Root's stats are…, well he's the best England ever had," and Vaughan couldn't agree more.

However, when asked by the anchor to pick between Kohli and Root versus Australia in Australia, Gilchrist pointed out that the former England captain has yet to score a ton Down Under, to which Vaughan replied, "but he will".

Gilchrist then recalled Kohli's 123 in Perth during the 2018/19 series in Australia. And although it came in a losing cause, the Aussie hailed it as one of the best centuries by the Indian. "Virat scored one of the best tons I've seen at the Perth stadium in the first Test match ever played there, that was probably different gravy. I'd probably say Virat."

Vaughan agreed with Gilchrist, but reckoned that he would still pick Root had it been for any other venue. "I wouldn't argue with that in Australia. I would say Virat in Australia against the Aussies, anywhere else I'm going Joe Root."

Root is currently the sixth-highest run-getter in Test cricket history with 12377 runs in 145 appearances for England, at 50.93 with 34 tons and 64 half-centuries. With Root named for the third Test against Sri Lanka at The Oval, he is likely to not only surpass Kumar Sangakkara to make the elusive top five, but also could pip Cook to become England's most prolific batter in history.

Kohli, on the other hand, stands 19th in the all-time list with 8848 runs in 113 appearances for India, laced with 29 tons and 30 fifties. With India slated to play 10 Tests matches this year, he could emerge to become the third Indian batter after Sachin, Rahul Dravid and Sunil Gavaskar to amass 10000 runs in the format.