Prior to the beginning of the five-match ODI series between the hosts New Zealand and the visitors India from this Wednesday (23 January), the Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson praised the Indian captain Virat Kohli.
On Tuesday (22 January), Kohli becomes the first cricketer to win all three ICC top awards in the single year for his extraordinary performances in 2018. While the 30-year-old Indian skipper Kohli was the leading run-scorer in 2018 international cricket, he won the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year, the ICC Men’s Test Player of the Year and the ICC ODI Player of the Year.
Praising the Indian skipper, Williamson confidently claimed that Kohli is a world-class player and he is admired on him.
Prior to the ODI series, Williamson said, “Obviously a world-class player, Virat, and he’s always a challenge to come up against and is someone who is most admired in terms of how he goes about his cricket and he’s formidable in his run scoring so he’s definitely a player of note to try to shut down.
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“Someone like Virat is certainly a player I admire and enjoy to watch and he’s pushing the boundaries of the game so that’s brilliant.
“He’s a respectful guy and I’ve known him for a very long time but as a player, obviously, word class and our focus is more about that and his cricketing ability and how we can combat him as best as we can.”
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However, talking about the home series against one of best sides at present, Williamson said that they were focusing on the entire Indian cricket team, not only Kohli.
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The Kiwi captain added, “There’s so many quality players in that side so although he is world class, you don’t want to get too consumed around one individual because there’s a number of match winners in their side. You focus on the opposition as a whole.”
