India’s star batsman Virat Kohli, who is gearing up for the World Twenty20, has come in for lavish praise from cricket legends like Kapil Dev, Sourav Ganguly, Wasim Akram and Inzamam-ul-Haq.
The yesteryear stars were speaking at the ‘Aaj Tak Salaam Cricket Conclave’ in New Delhi and were united in their assessment of the 26-year-old, with India’s 1983 World Cup winning captain giving Kohli the biggest compliment perhaps, comparing him to Tennis legend John McEnroe.
“Virat reminds me of McEnroe. He is always up to some mischief. There are people who take panga (challenge) and take their game to the next level. He is one of those. McEnroe always loved to fight with the umpires. Another example is Javed. He always loved taking panga,” said Kapil Dev, as reported by Hindustan Times.
Ganguly also lauded Kohli calling him as a ‘special’ player who was a cut above the rest from his teammates in the Indian national team.
“He is a special player. He holds the team together. You have top guys like Rohit (Sharma), Suresh (Raina), Yuvraj (Singh) but the way Virat has played over the last six, seven years, he is at another level,” Ganguly said. “He has scored all around the world and is a match winner. Look at the Asia Cup match against Pakistan. He took the team home after overcoming a great Mohammad Amir spell. Even though the target was a small one.
“You also can’t forget the consecutive hundreds he scored against Australia in the Adelaide Test. He holds the team together and that is why his value is a bit more than others,” Ganguly added.
Wasim Akram echoed Kapil’s thoughts that it was the aggressive side of Kohli that made him an unique cricketer.
“He loves to take panga (dare others) and that way he ends up playing even better. If Inzy (Inzamam) remembers, in 1999 I told the boys that ‘if the crowd is against you, booing you, that means you are doing a good job’. Virat also thinks like that. It is a great way of thinking,” said Akram.
When asked to how he would have tackled Kohli had he still been bowling, Akram had this to say, “It is very difficult to compare eras. Having said that, I would have tested him with an inswinger first up. He, like every batsman, is a bit shaky at the start of the innings. He shuffles also, so I would have tested him with some incoming deliveries. He has come to a stage where he knows how to score runs against the best, how to pace his innings. He reads the situation very well and that is why he is so consistent.”
Inzamam meanwhile commented that the Pakistan cricket team, who had a horrible Asia Cup outing recently, was missing exactly someone of Kohli’s stature.
“The current Pakistan team lacks motivation. It needs someone like a Kohli who can lead them from the front and motivate other players. The talent, the players are there in Pakistan but they need a big player like Kohli. Like we had Wasim bhai (Akram) in our days,” said Inzamam.
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