Kohli simply the best, says De Villiers
LONDON: India captain Virat Kohli leads his team into Sunday’s Champions Trophy final against bitter rivals Pakistan with South African star AB de Villiers labelling him “the outstanding cricketer in the world”.
Kohli, 28, moved to the top of the One Day International batting rankings this week as three half-centuries in the tournament have taken his total runs in the 50-over format to 8,008 at an average of 54.07.
De Villiers characterised Kohli, who struck an unbeaten 76 in last Sunday’s eight-wicket win over South Africa, as “being a consummate surgeon at the crease”. “He has been blessed with wonderful natural talent but, as ever among high achievers, his talent is underpinned by a willingness to work hard,” wrote De Villiers in his column for the BBC on Saturday.
De Villiers, who endured a disappointing tournament in charge of the number one ranked side, says Kohli is also able to cope with the extreme pressure that comes with being captain of the Indian cricket team.
“Beyond the golden talent and the iron determination, Virat has learned how to cope with the pressures of his exalted position,” said De Villiers, who was dismissed for his first golden duck in ODI cricket in a loss to Pakistan last week.
“If you drive into almost any city in India, you will see his face appear on every other billboard.”
“Being the most marketable and possibly the most popular personality in a nation of 1.3bn people brings its own pressures: he simply cannot move without being begged for a ‘selfie’ and his every move, word and even gesture is relentlessly reported in print, electronic and social media.”
“Twitter whirred when he stuck out his tongue to celebrate a wicket against Bangladesh.” “Virat has learned to live with these realities.” De Villiers, who has befriended Kohli through playing in the Royal Challengers Bangalore team in the IPL, says Kohli has mellowed down the years and the anger that sometimes surfaced has been replaced by a more jocular personality. LONDON: India are favourites to retain the Champions Trophy on Sunday but they would probably have preferred to face different opponents than arch-rivals Pakistan in what is sure to be a highly-charged final. The neighbouring countries have moved on from years of political conflicts but emotions will run high as millions of supporters around the world watch the first major cricket final between the teams since the 2007 Twenty20 World Cup. One of the most unpredictable sides in world sport, Pakistan were the lowestranked side going into the tournament and produced a shambolic performance in their heavy opening defeat by India. As they have done many times before, however, Pakistan suddenly found their form with wins over top-ranked South Africa and Sri Lanka before delivering an outstanding all-round display to stun previously unbeaten hosts England in the semifinals. India suffered a shock loss to Sri Lanka in the group stage before overwhelming Bangladesh in the semis and their captain Virat Kohli has been impressed by Pakistan’s resurgence. “The turnaround magnificent,” Kohli said. “Obviously, if you reach the finals you have to play some good cricket and credit to them, they’ve turned around things for themselves really well.” “The belief just showed on the field the way they played together as a team and regardless of who you play in the finals, it’s always going to be challenging because once you start thinking that it’s a big game, then your mindset changes.” OUTSTANDING BATTING India, who beat Pakistan by five runs has been in the Twenty20 final 10 years ago, have been lifted by the outstanding batting form of Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma.
“What we are going to try to do is repeat the similar sort of cricket that we have played so far, knowing the strengths and weaknesses they have,” Kohli said.
“I don’t think we need to look too far away from what we are doing as a group, focus on our skills and our abilities and believe in ourselves on that particular day.”
Pakistan, without their leading fast bowler Mohammad Amir due to injury, strangled the usually free-scoring England batsmen on a slow wicket in Cardiff with a disciplined display of bowling and fielding.
The Oval pitch should be more favourable for batsmen but India, who have beaten Pakistan in eight of their 10 World Cup and Champions Trophy meetings, will not be complacent.
“We’ve seen some really surprising results and it’s been amazing for the fans to watch and for the players to be a part of,” Kohli said.
“We played some really good cricket but we’re not going to take anything for granted for sure.”
Pakistan’s rejuvenation has been built around the runs of opener Fakhar Zaman and the experienced Azhar Ali while Hasan Ali and Junaid Khan stepped up to compensate for the absence of Amir who is expected to be fit for the final.
Their captain Sarfraz Ahmed said they had quickly forgotten the opening loss to India and simply focused on the next game in their bid to win the Champions Trophy for the first time.
“After the India match, motivated the guys,” he said.
“Don’t worry about the India match. This is gone. If we play good cricket, definitely we will win this tournament.” we just