New Delhi, May 9: Cricket icon and India's hero of twin ICC World Cup titles in 2007 and 2011 Yuvraj Singh, is hardly known for making casual remarks.
Like his big hits in his playing days, his comments and reading of the game always speak a lot about his situation and talent reading abilities.
Yuvi has always been a great admirer of his former India teammate Virat Kohli. He always adored Kohli for his sincerity, exceptional skills and commitments for the game of cricket.
Speaking about how Kohli became one of the greatest batters of this generation, Yuvraj said his methods, batting approach at nets and dedication for the game are the key reasons why the Delhi batter has been such a well respected star player for years.
Yuvraj jumped to the aid of his ex-teammate after his (Kohli's) strike rate in T20s, became the focal point of conversation ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Many reports even speculated Kohli might be left out of the squad heading to the tournament.
"I think he understands his game really well. He knows if he's there till the end, he is going to win the game for India and he has done that on some big occasions - against Australia in Mohali as well," Yuvraj told ICC.
"Once he had the confidence of chasing and knowing the situation, he knows how to bat in these situations, knows which bowlers to attack, which bowlers to take singles off, when to attack again, handle the pressure and knows when to change his game," he said.
Kohli has been India’s star batsman for more than a decade and has been one of the star performers for Indian cricket at ICC tournaments ever since his induction into the team. The 35-year-old entered the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup after a lean patch without a century which extended to more than 1,000 days and ended the tournament with the most runs in a single edition of the tournament being just one of the many records he broke during the course of the campaign.
In the ongoing IPL 2024, the former India skipper has scored 542 runs at an average of 67.75 and a strike-rate of 148.08.
When asked what makes Kohli one of a kind, the 2011 World Cup player of the tournament said, "Why I think he was so good was because every time in nets or a practice situation, he would not go and just slog balls, In the nets, he would always bat like he was batting in a match. He put that in repetition after repetition after repetition. I have not seen that in many players. I think that is the key to his success."
Kohli scored an incredible 82* off 52 deliveries against Australia and led India to victory in a crucial Super 10 matchup in the 2016 T20 World Cup. He has often recalled that mentioning it is one of his favourite innings.
"I think he was outstanding. He was in one of the best forms of his life. He was hitting the ball unbelievably. And I had a small partnership with him (in the 2014 T20 World Cup) and then he batted with Dhoni," Yuvraj recalled.
Like Yuvraj, many former cricket icons and lakhs of Indian fans may be pleased to see Kohli dazzle in the upcoming ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 and help India lift the trophy. (With IANS support)
