Nothing Comes Close to Playing Intense Game in Whites, Says Virat Kohli

Mumbai, June 24: India skipper Virat Kohli on Wednesday stated that nothing comes close to playing an "intense game in whites" and added that he was blessed to play Test cricket for the country.

"Nothing comes close to playing a intense game in whites. What a blessing to be able to play Test cricket for India," Kohli said in an Instagram post.

Kohli, counted as one of the best batsmen in modern times, has so far played 86 Tests for India in which he has scored 7240 runs, including 27 hundreds and 22 half centuries. Besides, the 31-year-old has also featured in 248 ODIs and 82 T20Is amassing 11867 and 2794 runs respectively.

Currently, the Indian skipper is ranked second in the ICC Test rankings for batsmen, behind Australia's Steve Smith.

Recently, Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar drew similarities between Kohli and former West Indies batsman Vivian Richards. 'The Little Master' recalled what it was like to play against Richards and stated Kohli also bats like the way the former West Indies talisman used to do.

"It was very difficult to keep Viv Richards quiet when he was at the crease," Gavaskar said on Star Sports' show �Winning the Cup -- 1983'.

"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.

"That's why Virat Kohli is considered as the No. 1 player because he bats exactly like Viv Richards. Earlier, Gundappa Vishwanath, V.V.S. Laxman used to bat like this," he added.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 24, 2020 12:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).