Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has revealed the similarities between India captain Virat Kohli and batting great Viv Richards, citing that Kohli’s batting is very similar to that of the former West Indies player. Notably, Virat Kohli is the only batsman in the world who has an average of more than 50 across formats. On the other hand, Viv Richards is considered one of the greatest batsmen ever in the history of cricket.
While talking about the similarities between the two batsmen, Gavaskar said Kohli is the best batsman in the world because of his ability to play various shots.
“It was very difficult to keep Viv Richards quiet when he was at the crease. Similarly, if you look at Virat Kohli’s batting today, in the same ball and same line, he will use his top hand and score a boundary towards the extra cover region and will use the bottom hand and score a boundary towards the mid-on and mid-wicket region,” said the batting great on Star Sports’ show ‘Winning the Cup — 1983’.
“That’s why Virat Kohli is considered as the No. 1 player because he bats exactly like Viv Richards. Earlier, Gundappa Vishwanath, VVS Laxman used to bat like this,” he added.
Meanwhile, in the last month, former Australia captain Ian Chappell had also shared that Virat Kohli’s batting is similar to Richards and also referred to Kohli as the best batsman across formats in recent times.
“The best short-form player in the time I played was Viv Richards, and he just played normal cricket shots but he placed the ball so well he was able to score at a very fast rate. And Kohli’s the same. He plays traditional cricket shots, and he plays them really well. Of that group (including Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, Joe Root), Kohli is the best in all three forms. That’s unquestionable. His record in all three forms is quite unbelievable, particularly his record in the shorter forms,” Chappell said on ‘The RK Show’.
The show is hosted by Radhakrishnan Sreenivasan on YouTube. Chappell further added that India captain’s fitness is the thing which makes him different from the other players in the current generation.
“The other thing that stands out about Kohli is his fitness and running between the wickets. The way he pushes himself, he’s incredibly fit. Some of his performances are quite amazing,” shared Ian Chappell.
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