Stephen Fleming says Virat Kohli is in the same bracket as Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Brian Lara in terms of skills

Former New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming has said that Indian test skipper Virat Kohli has the capabilities of being a great batsman and added that from a skill point of view, the 27-year-old was in the same group as Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Ricky Ponting.

“He is getting there. He hasn’t yet reached the level of Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Brian Lara, but that is only because they had such long careers. From a skill point of view, yes, Kohli is in that bracket. There are also batsmen like Williamson, Steve Smith, Joe Root and A.B. de Villiers who play a great brand of exciting cricket,” the former left-hander, who is in India as a Brand Ambassador for ‘Education New Zealand’, said.

On asked the way that the bowlers could dismiss the right-hander, who has had a prolific run with the bat in 2016 across formats, Fleming said one needed to be persistent in their bowling but cautioned that the likes of Ajinkya Rahane and R Ashwin were equally dangerous and could cause damage as well.

“You must put Kohli under pressure by bowling long, accurate spells. But you cannot focus solely on Kohli, and forget about other in-form players like Ajinkya Rahane and Ashwin. This will be a mistake. It is similar to the past when certain teams used to concentrate just on Sachin Tendulkar, only to be stung by the likes of V.V.S Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag,” he said.

Speaking about the upcoming three-match Test series against India, Fleming said that the Blackcaps take some time to get used to the Indian conditions and added that he wasn’t a big fan of neutral wickets.

“The New Zealand side generally takes a while to adjust to foreign conditions. If the Tests are played on traditional Indian wickets — which I think they should, as I’m not a fan of neutral wickets — it will be tough for them to handle the likes of Virat Kohli and R. Ashwin. However, if guys like Ross Taylor and (skipper) Kane Williamson lead the way and the young guys adjust quickly, there is enough there to make it a competitive series,” he said.

Fleming also concurred with the point that former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting about the relevance of ODIs, stating at the end of the day, it is that which matters the most and competitions like Champions Trophy and World Cup gather public viewing because they are marquee events.

“You don’t want to tinker with Test cricket. ODI cricket, however, lacks relevance at times. It is very difficult to get excited about bilateral ODI series. Tournaments like the Champions Trophy and World Cup get big attention only because it is has some meaning. Relevance is key,” he concluded.