Virat Kohli is at a different level than anyone else: Jhye Richardson

It’s always an arduous task bowling to a batsman of Virat Kohli’s quality. But when the same batsman decides to go after you, the task gets even harder as young Australian paceman Jhye Richardson can attest to.

Although Jhye Richardson suffered at the hands of the Indian captain he was quick to praise Virat Kohli’s class. The Australian felt that Virat Kohli was at a different level than other batsmen because of his ‘energy’ and ‘aggression’.

“Virat Kohli without a doubt,” Jhye Richardson said, when he was asked to name the best batsman he has bowled to in a podcast.

Jhye Richardson has played in two Tests, 13 ODIs and 9 T20s in a fledgling career marred by injury. He has been out of action since March last year, after injuring his shoulder diving for a catch against Pakistan in an ODI.

Jhye Richardson, who underwent a shoulder reconstruction surgery in late April this year, explained why he rated Virat Kohli over Rohit Sharma.

“He (Virat Kohli) bats with so much energy and you can tell he’s on a different level than anyone else you bowl to. Even in the Indian team when you’ve got the Rohit Sharma’s and all but Kohli’s at a different level.

“He hits the ball in areas that you can’t even imagine. You can tell that he pushes the other guys in the team to sort of step up when he’s batting with them. He’s unbelievable. He can change a game like that,” Jhye Richardson commented.

Jhye Richardson has got Virat Kohli out four times

Jhye Richardson played six of his 13 ODIs against India and dismissed skipper Virat Kohli four times. Virat Kohli, who averages 54.57 against Australia from 40 ODIs, seemed to always want to dominate Jhye Richardson when he was playing against him in India.

“There was a few times that I bowled to him in India post their Australian tour, as soon as I came on to bowl, it’s like he wanted to take me down straight away. He was in the fight from ball 1. I felt I was on the backfoot,” Jhye Richardson said.

Jhye Richardson has started bowling again after his shoulder surgery but he is still unable to properly throw or fully commit in the field.

"The plan as it stands to get back to competitive cricket is around the Big Bash," Richardson told cricket.com.au.

"When you put things into perspective that's not really that far away. If cricket does start back up again and the Big Bash is going ahead, in my eyes that's not too far away,” the 23-year-old paceman added.

Jhye Richardson made a name for himself by dismissing Kohli on three consecutive times during India’s tour of Australia in 2019.