“Right Guy To Take Indian Cricket Forward” – Sir Ian Botham Praises Virat Kohli

You don’t need to be a fan of the Indian cricket team to know the name Virat Kohli. It’s a name that everyone who knows anything about cricket has an idea about.

Virat Kohli features in the top ranks of all cricket formats

There are tonnes of fans that the Indian team skipper has amassed throughout his career and continues to do so. If you take a look at the statistics across all three formats of cricket, Virat Kohli is present within the first few ranks.

Here is a list of his scores across the three formats:

ODIs – 11,687 runs.

T20Is – 2,794 runs.

Tests – 7,240 runs.

His impressive scores have even sparked the debate as to whether he will finally break Sachin Tendulkar’s record or not. Sides are divided on this topic but given the pace at which he is moving, it does not seem impossible.

Sir Ian Botham showers the Indian skipper with praise

Nevertheless, whether he breaks the record or not, Kohli is still regarded as one of the best batsmen of cricket. Even Ian Botham, England player, has said that he would really like to play against the Indian skipper.

Botham said that Kohli is a player who takes the game to the opposition. Not only that, but he also takes a stand for his players, which is very important as a captain. He feels that Virat Kohli is the right captain to take India forward in every format.

“Virat takes the game to the opposition, he takes a stand for his players. I would have loved to play against him. He is the right guy to take Indian cricket forward.”

The England all-rounder even spoke highly of Indian legend Kapil Dev. He said that it doesn’t seem likely that anyone can pull off the bowling that the former Indian captain did on the Indian pitches which did not have much to offer. On top of that, if you add the scorching heat of India, it’s a rather tedious task. He feels there aren’t many all-rounders who can do this and overall the cricket industry currently lacks sufficient all-rounders.

“All-rounders can’t be manufactured, they don’t grow on trees. The workload is double and it obviously takes a toll on your body.”

“Just imagine Kapil… the amount of bowling he did on those Indian pitches, which had very little to offer, that too in the scorching heat of Chennai and Delhi. I can’t see anyone in the present generation being able to do that.”