What’s the story?
England batsman Joe Root has lavished praise on Virat Kohli’s extraordinary batting ability in run-chases. The 26-year old expressed his desire to have an intrinsic conversation with the Indian captain on the art of building a white-ball innings.
“He’s (Kohli) one of the best at run chases in the game, in fact, he probably is the best at it. His record says he’s got 15 hundreds chasing scores down now. I’d love to sit and chat with him, but I’ve not had that opportunity yet. Definitely watching him go about his business, there is a lot of thought behind it,” Root was quoted as saying by The Guardian.
On Kohli’s century and game-changing partnership with Kedar Jadhav in the first ODI in Pune, he revealed, “One thing he did was talk his partner through it at the other end and helped him construct his innings. There was a lot of thought behind it and for us, that is something we’ve got to learn from.”
In case you didn’t know...
India were tottering at 63/4 in reply to England’s formidable total of 350 during the series opener. As he often does, Kohli soaked up the pressure and took on the responsibility of taking his team home. In his first ODI as full-time captain, he came up with a 105-ball 122 and put on 200 runs for the fifth wicket with Jadhav to help India reach another stiff target.
The heart of the matter
In doing so, Kohli also overtook the iconic Sachin Tendulkar to score the most hundreds (15) in successful run-chases. Alongside the Delhi dasher and Kane Williamson, Root is the only other batsman to feature within the top ten in the ICC player rankings in all three formats of the game.
The Yorkshireman’s regard for Kohli is well known after he recently picked him in his all-time XI. On his part, the Indian skipper called Root as one of his favourite batsmen in the modern game last month but admitted that he hadn’t spoken with him a lot.
What’s next?
The two teams will meet next at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack for the second ODI on Thursday. Ahead of the must-win game for England, Root reiterated the importance of developing and executing a specific plan to halt Kohli’s remarkable productivity.
Sportskeeda’s Take
From their mutual respect and admiration, it is pretty evident that both Root and Kohli enjoy watching each other bat. By proving their credentials across all formats in diverse conditions, the duo are among the most versatile batsmen in this era and stand out as ideal role-models for the next generation.
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