Former Windies pacer Michael Holding reckons that the Indian skipper Virat Kohli is an extremely good batsman, but he will only become a great player when he will score runs in England. Holding reported Kohli as one of the top three batsmen in the world and he will become great when he will score runs everywhere.

As quoted in Mumbai Mirror, Holding said, “Virat Kohli is a fantastic batsman. I was asked to name three top cricketers and I included Kohli in that list. He is a very very good player. When I see him score runs in England, I would call him a great player. I like people who score runs everywhere. He is an extremely good player.”

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Holding reckons Kohli is emotional about his game and needs to further improve his captaincy. He described, “But as a captain, he has some work to do. I don’t want to condemn him too much because I like to have my own way as a captain. I like to be given the team I want all the time. But it is still not the right way to go. There got to be discussions with the wiser heads from time to time, come to conclusions and flesh out different arguments. I get an impression that he is getting what he wants.”

He further added, “He is very emotional about his cricket. He means everything he wants to do. In time he will learn. Because he has been so successful since he took over, it is hard for him to change. He has to see other viewpoints and arrive at the consensus.”

Last week, Kohli was named as the cricketer of the year by the International Cricket Council, as he scored runs across formats. He became the fourth Indian to win the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy after Sachin Tendulkar (2010), Rahul Dravid (2004) and teammate Ravichandran Ashwin (2016).

Talking about the honor, Virat said, “It’s the first time winning the Garfield Sobers Trophy, and it’s a huge honor for me. It’s probably the biggest of all in world cricket and two Indians getting it back-to-back makes it more special.”

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Kohli was also crowned as the ODI batsman of the year and he earned that title for the second time after 2012. During the voting period from 21 September 2016 to end-2017, Kohli scored 2,203 Test runs at an average of 77.80 including eight centuries. He accumulated 1,818 ODI runs with the help of seven centuries.

Virat has also bestowed a rare honour as he was selected to captain the ICC’s Test and ODI sides, a team in name only that comprises the best players from around the globe.

But in recent time things have not been that much smoother for the Indian skipper as his team is trailing by 2-0 in the ongoing three-match Test series against South Africa, prompting criticism about his team selection and India’s poor Test record away from home.