CricSpirit Where The Game Starts
Not many can earn a legendary status a couple of years before the 30 mark, unless his name is either Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar or Virat Kohli. The current generation talisman of Indian cricket, has been carrying the burden of Indian cricket on his shoulders in the last few years and with time, he is taking giant strides towards the pinnacle.
When a 19 year old Virat Kohli made his debut for India in 2008, not many expected him to reach this level considering his approach towards the game. His short-temper and aggression seemed like a hindrance on his way to greatness,
but the way he has transfigured himself into one of the all time greats of the game is simply sensational.
It was really disheartening for the fans to see few of his improbable individual efforts go into vain, more specifically the 2016 IPL, where he amassed a record breaking 971 runs, which included 4 hundreds.
Royal Challengers Bangalore lost in the finals to Sunrisers Hyderabad in a nail biting encounter.
In the 2016 ICC World T20 as well, Virat Kohli’s astonishing run of form helped India reach the semi-finals out of no where, but West Indies played the party spoiler and yet again, similar to the way it happened in 2014, he had to settle with the Player of the Tournament Award.
Yet, life is meant to be a roller coaster ride and his life has been no different. As the batting maestro turns 28, the entire cricspirit.com team wishes him a very happy birthday and a blessed year ahead.
Here are some of the popular quotes on Virat Kohli, said by some of the greatest icons of the game.
“To become a good player, you need talent. To become a great player, you need an attitude like Kohli.”
2. Saurav Ganguly
“As of now, Virat Kohli is the greatest batsman of the world.”
3. Nasir Hussain
“If I have to pick the best batsmen in world cricket right now, only 2 names come to my mind. One is AB De Villiers and the other is VIRAT KOHLI.”
4. Sanjay Manjrekar
“Virat’s success does not surprise you. His failures do.”
5. Michael Clarke
“Watching Kohli Bat, reminds me of Tendulkar”
6. Neil Harvey
”I think Kohli is full of his own importance really. Somebody has to teach him a lesson; maybe captaincy will help him a bit. That (responsibility) can do him a world of good, but we will see.
I would like to see Kohli behave himself better. He seems to be over-impressed by his ability. I think he’s a bit big-headed.”
7. Viv Richards
“On these bouncy Australian wickets, there will always be some batsmen who are going to get outdone by that, especially early in the order. It makes sense to have Virat Kohli bat at number four in such a scenario then because he can dictate terms whatever situation the match is in”
And once he says ”I love watching Virat Kohli bat. He remembers me of myself”
8. Ian Chappell
“Virat Kohli is the PRINCE of Indian cricket.”
9. Harbhajan Singh
“Virat thrives in pressure situation. The more the pressure on Virat, better he plays. There aren’t too many batsmen in world cricket today, who love chasing and burden of trying to overtake a big score.”
10. Ian Healy
”I have watched Sachin but and I must say he (Kohli) seems to have the ability to bat like him”
11. Gary Kirsten
“Virat is a rare talent. I was fortunate to be a part of that process of seeing him grow and that gives me immense pleasure”
12. Sachin Tendulkar
“Kohli’s strength is to be able to analyse the situation and adjust game accordingly. His match awareness is terrific. To be able to have the vision to what the game would look like after four overs, six overs is commendable. He is able to calculate the required run-rate during chases very well,”
13. MS Dhoni
“When it comes to fitness, reading of the game, execution of his plans — I feel that’s what makes him very special,”
14. Arun Lal
“Virat Kohli is the paradigm shift. He has taken the bar, the level up for every budding cricketer. He is a game changer, like Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly,”
