Kumar Sangakkara on Virat Kohli: The Sri Lankan legend was wax lyrical about the Indian captain in a recent conversation.
India captain Virat Kohli’s greatness in world cricket can be calculated with how some of the absolute legends of the game are praising him these days. Just a day after legendary spinner Shane Warne disclosed reasons behind loving Kohli, former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has heaped praise on the 30-year old cricketer.
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Claiming Kohli to be currently above anyone else in world cricket, Sangakkara went on to say that he will be one of the greatest ever cricketers.
“Everything about Virat’s game stands out. I think he is head and shoulders above anyone else in world cricket today. And I think going forward, he will be one of the greatest ever cricketers, if not the greatest ever,” Sangakkara told a news channel.
Talent. Brilliance. And a lot of promise. Vote now, guys! 🙌 https://t.co/bVrb5gEXGB
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) February 12, 2019
Inspiring stories of resilience. Vote now, guys! 🙌 https://t.co/8IPn3tMSRn
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) February 12, 2019
Kohli’s outstanding numbers
In 364 outings for India across formats since his debut in 2008, Kohli has scored 19,313 runs at an average of 56.14 and a strike rate of 78.77 including 64 centuries and 88 half-centuries. While he is usually compared with his counterparts in Steve Smith, Joe Root and Kane Williamson, Kohli doing well across formats make him top this elite list.
Sangakkara, who retired from international cricket in 2015, appreciated Kohli’s knack and solid method of scoring runs. The 41-year old also laid emphasis on Kohli reading the situations well.
“He has this incredible knack of scoring runs and has a very, very solid method that he believes in. If you see the tempo which he bats with, it hardly changes. He does read the situation very well,” Sangakkara added.
ROHIT Sharma and VIRAT #Kohli – two of India’s most prolific batsmen. One is the highest run-scorer in T20I cricket, while the other is hailed as the world’s best cricketer. But as far as T20Is are concerned, who’s the better batsman? Let’s discuss that in today’s #AakashVani. pic.twitter.com/QJ0GsyEfOP
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) February 12, 2019
.@imVkohli is a bit too emotional sometimes on the field – @ShaneWarne https://t.co/uLNOo28zB7 pic.twitter.com/zvTMb81KAk
— Hindustan Times (@htTweets) February 12, 2019
Talking about the year gone by, Kohli scored 2,735 runs in 37 appearances for India across formats. An average of 68.37, a strike rate of 72.39, 11 centuries and nine half-centuries saw Kohli putting many formidable performances throughout 2018. His numbers also aided him in creating history at ICC Awards 2018.
After being rested from a part of India’s tour of New Zealand, Kohli is expected to be back leading India during the home series against Australia.
