Admiration and respect surpass every boundary. Pakistani cricketers, past or present, have never been shy of effusively praising Virat Kohli India’s talisman batsman and former skipper.
Kohli, who although has been stuck at 70 international centuries, is regarded as one of the best – not just of this generation, but of all time. His 70 tons are the third-most in international cricket – behind Sachin Tendulkar’s 100 hundreds, and Ricky Ponting’s 71 – and his tally of 23569 runs makes him the seventh-leading all-time run-scorer; his average, though, of 54 is the best among those who have scored more runs than him.
Here we look at top 5 comments on Virat Kohli’s greatness by Pakistani legends:
Virat Kohli’s era – Imran Khan
The 1992 World Cup-winning captain, Imran Khan, who is also Pakistani’s Prime Minister now, summed up Kohli’s greatness in minimal terms, putting him in the league of other legendary batters who defined their eras.
“Cricket has had eras. In the eighties, it was Viv Richards, and then you had Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar who stood out. Virat Kohli is one of the most complete players I’ve seen. He’s so versatile; he plays on both feet, and on all sides of the field” – Imran Khan
Best finisher of the game I ever seen- Shoaib Akhtar
The world has been in awe of Virat Kohli in run-chases, and former Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar too got on the train when Kohli marshalled a terrific run-chase against Pakistan during the 2016 T20 World Cup encounter in Kolkata.
After India had been left reeling at 3/23, Kohli bunted out the fire of the Pakistani fast bowlers before unleashing his shots. He remained unbeaten on 55 off 37 balls to complete the chase, eliciting this reaction out of Akhtar: “Virat is the best finisher of the game I ever seen in last 20 year of my career..but Pak team tried their best but just couldn’t finish it.”
Kohli is a nightmare for bowlers- Wasim Akram
Wasim Akram, one of the greatest ever pacers, explained the bowlers’ plight when they come against a rampage Virat Kohli.
“As far as his technique is concerned, no doubt Virat Kohli is a nightmare for bowlers now a days. He is supremely fit; he looks good. He enjoys his fielding and he does whatever a leader is supposed to do. You can just see and figure it out,” Akram said.
Inspiration for young Cricketers- Mohammad Amir
Mohammad Amir, who has had some fiery battles with ‘King’ Kohli on the field, hailed Kohli’s leadership and termed him as an inspiration after Kohli had announced his resignation as India’s Test captain.
brother for me u are a true leader of upcoming generation in cricket because u are inspiration for young Cricketers. keep rocking on and of the field,” Amir tweeted.
@imVkohli brother for me u are a true leader of upcoming generation in cricket because u are inspiration for young Cricketers. keep rocking on and of the field. pic.twitter.com/0ayJoaCC3k
— Mohammad Amir (@iamamirofficial) January 15, 2022
But the man who batted the best in the match was Virat Kohli. His footwork exemplary, concentration was very good on a difficult track. It felt like a Rolls Royce was batting in the middle,” Raja said.
