Legendary West Indies cricketer, Brian Lara, terms the Indian skipper, Virat Kohli as the cricketing equivalent of football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo for his sheer commitment towards the game. He also considers KL Rahul as skillful as his skipper. Lara says he is in awe of how Virat Kohli has honed his skills to take batting to an “unbelievable level”.

As per the quotes of PTI, Lara said, “I think it has got a lot to do with Virat’s outstanding commitment besides his preparation. I don’t think he is any more talented than a KL Rahul or a Rohit Sharma but his commitment to preparing himself properly stands out. He is, for me, the cricketing equivalent of Cristiano Ronaldo. His fitness level and his mental strength are unbelievable.”

Lara, who scored nearly 12,000 runs in Test cricket, Kohli can fit into the best teams of any era — be it Clive Lloyd’s ‘Unbeatables’ of the 1970s or Sir Don Bradman’s ‘Invincibles’ of 1948.

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The batting legend said, “His batting skills are unbelievable. He is a guy you cannot leave out in any era. If a guy is averaging 50 plus in all versions of the game, then that is something which is unheard of.”

Talk about West Indies cricket and how most of the talented players are being lured by private leagues, Lara refused to call them “mercenaries”. He feels that some of the illustrious predecessors in the late 1970s had already set the precedent by joining Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket (WSC).

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Lara further elaborated, “Each cricketer has to make a choice. Back in the day in late 1970s, there was Kerry Packer and there was an exodus of cricketers. I can’t say that there”s something that’s new. Not everyone will be playing for the West Indies. So if you can make a living playing T20 leagues then why not? I don’t see it as a mercenary act.”