Published: Jan 22, 2019, 01:19 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 22, 2019, 01:19 PM (IST)
India captain Virat Kohli has termed his opposite number Kane Williamson as the “most attractive” batsmen in world cricket today, and a big threat during the five-match ODI series in New Zealand starting Wednesday in Napier.
This tour pits Kohli – on Tuesday named skipper of the ICC’s Test and ODI XIs of 2018 – against Williamson, along with him and Joe Root widely regarded as the best three captain-batsmen in world cricket. Kohli and Williamson go back to the 2008 Under-19 World Cup days and having watched his counterpart closely in the last decade, Kohli was in awe but fully aware of the threat he poses to India. (ALSO READ: Beating well-balanced New Zealand at home is India’s biggest challenge: Virat Kohli)
“He’s easily one of the best players in the world; so easy on the eye, great to watch,” said Kohli of Williamson. “I really enjoy watching his batting, personally, and when he’s on song he’s the most attractive to watch. He’s always going to be a very solid player for New Zealand, purely because of what he’s done across all three formats, and the way he’s gone about making those runs, he more or less makes the team win when he scores. I think that tells you about his awareness of the game and hence he’s leading the side and guiding them in the right directions. (ALSO READ: On-song New Zealand pose threat to India)
“Kane’s always going to be a very important factor for them, but at the same time Rosco [Ross Taylor] and all the other guys as well. You can’t take anyone for granted or lightly, but yeah their batting usually evolves around Kane and Rosco, in ODIs especially. We’re aware of that and working on our plans.”
