Tag: Virat Kohli

KARACHI: Former West Indian cricketer and commentator Ian Bishop claimed that Babar Azam has almost surpassed Indian star batter, Virat Kohli, as ‘the ultimate uber fifty-over batter’.

Bishop praised Pakistan national team skipper for his consistent performance and record-breaking form in the limited-over cricket as he currently leads both ODI and T20I batters’ rankings.

“Babar Azam is on the road to greatness,(…)in the white-ball cricket and certainly in fifty overs,” claimed Bishop during a conversation with Cricwick.com.

Bishop further went on to compare Babar’s brilliance in the ODIs with Indian Ex-captain and eminent batter Kohli, while claiming that Pakistan’s captain has nearly overtaken the latter’s greatness in the ODI cricket.

“His average, as we speak now, (is) on the cusp on 60 with 17 ODI hundreds. He has almost overtaken his next-door neighbor, the great Virat Kohli, in terms of the ultimate uber 50-over batter,” he declared.

Former West Indies bowler also opined on Babar’s performance in Test cricket and hoped that he would soon excel himself in the longer format as well.

“His Test cricket is a work in progress. I’m surprised he hasn’t taken to Test cricket numbers a lot earlier. He’s starting to get better at it. Technically, he’s superb”, said Bishop.

“In future, I’m hoping he will be mentioned in the same breath in Test cricket as the top 3-4 players,” he concluded.

Bishop had also included Babar Azam in his recently announced all-time Pakistan XI.

It is pertinent to mention here that the top-ranked ODI batter Babar was named as the ICC ODI Men’s player of the year 2021 following his incredible run in the limited-overs format. He also became the first batter to score three consecutive ODI centuries twice.

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DUBAI: Pakistan’s left-handed opener Imam-ul-Haq got the reward of his sublime run in the ODI cricket as he surpassed India’s top-batter Virat Kohli in the latest ICC ODI Batting Rankings to claim his career-best second rank.

Imam, who enjoyed a delightful home ODI series against the West Indies, has gotten the reward of his astounding performance as he has achieved his career-high second rank in the ICC ODI Batting Rankings.

Imam scored 199 runs at an average of 66.33 with the help of three consecutive half-centuries in the recently-concluded series against the West Indies. Following his brilliant performance, Imam was also adjudged as the player of the series.

Imam, who scored the second-most consecutive half-centuries (7) in the ODI cricket, has managed to dethrone Virat from the second spot, whom he had occupied since April 2021.

The left-handed batter achieved his career-high 815 ranking points in comparison with Kohli’s 811 to surpass the latter in the rankings.

Pakistan’s all-format captain Babar Azam, on the other hand, has retained the top spot with 892 rating points.

🥇 @babarazam258 retains No.1 spot in the rankings
🌟 Career-best ranking for @ImamUlHaq12 in ODIs 🔼

The star 🇵🇰 duo occupy the top two spots in the ICC ODI Rankings 🤩 pic.twitter.com/hDOZalppVf

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) June 15, 2022

It is pertinent to mention here that this is the first instance in the history of Pakistan cricket that the first and second spots in the ODI batting rankings are occupied by the Pakistani batters.

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KARACHI: Pakistan’s star wicket-keeper Mohammad Rizwan praised Indian batter Virat Kohli for his affectionate and humble attitude off the field as he opened up on his meeting with Kohli after winning the T20 World Cup match against India last year.

“It was the first time I was meeting Kohli. The kind of things I had heard about him, other players also told me ‘Virat is aggressive and all’. But the way he met me before and after the match, it was amazing,” said Rizwan in an interview on the Youtube channel Cricket Baaz with Waheed Khan

“We all belong to the cricket family. If I call him ‘our Virat Kohli’, it is correct in the sense,” he added.

Last year, the pictures and videos of Rizwan went viral as he joyfully hugged the Indian captain and shared words with him after Pakistan thrashed India by 10 wickets first time in a world cup match.

Rizwan to date had not disclosed the chat he had with Kohli, however, admiring the attitude of Indian players, he disclosed that both teams had very different attitudes off-field and on-field.

“Obviously, when we enter the ground, no one is a star. There we have no brotherhood or anything of that sort. But outside the field, when we met Kohli, and some of our players also met MS Dhoni, we met with a lot of love and affection,” claimed Rizwan.

The wicket-keeper also opined about the quality time he spent with Indian test player Cheteshwar Pujara, both were representing Sussex in the County season.

“Even in County cricket, where Pujara is with me, believe me, we live with so much love. In fact, I am the one who keeps bugging him, calling him out. He keeps laughing,” he shared.

While expressing his views on bilateral Test matches between India and Pakistan, Rizwan claimed that players of both teams wanted to play against each other but complications at the top were not under their control.

“..He [Pujara] as far as I understood also wanted to play against Pakistan. But there must be difficulties at the top that are beyond our knowledge, otherwise, we [players] want Test, ODI, and T20 series against them [India],” Rizwan concluded.

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ISLAMABAD: The management of the Kashmir Premier League (KPL) has planned to approach Virat Kohli, the former Indian captain, to play in the league’s second season.

In a video released on the KPL Twitter handle, the President of the league Arif Malik announced that a formal invitation will be sent to Kohli for the upcoming second edition.

“We are sending a formal invitation to Virat Kohli to participate in KPL 2 whether to play as a player or to watch a match as a guest with us. Now it’s up to him if he accepts our invitation or not,” he said.

“Like Virat, we are also open to hosting other Indian players as well as an attempt to promote peace between the two countries,” he added.

It is apropos to mention here that the second edition of the KPL will begin on August 1 and conclude on Pakistan’s Independence Day, August 14th.

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BANGALORE: Former Indian captain Virat Kohli responded to his critics and claimed that he mutes his TV to silence his critics and also that they can not feel what he feels and can not be in his shoes.

In a video released by Kohli’s IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), the former captain said that the critics could not feel what he feels and they can not be in his shoes while also revealing that he mutes his TV to silence his critics.

“They can’t be in my shoes, they can’t feel what I feel, they can’t live my life, they can’t live those moments,” Kohli said.

“How do you cut out the noise? You either mute the TV or don’t listen to or pay attention to what people are saying. I do both of these things,” he added.

In response to the host’s question regarding his two ducks in the ongoing edition of the IPL, the right-handed batter claimed that he now has seen everything in this game.

“It hasn’t happened to me ever in my career, I think. I have seen everything now. It’s been so long, I have seen everything in this game,” Kohli said.

On being asked about his former RCB teammate AB de Villiers, the right-handed batter revealed that he missed the latter a lot while also talking to him quite regularly.

“Miss him a lot. I speak to him regularly, quite regularly,” Kohli revealed.

“He keeps messaging me, we stay in touch, he is very keenly obviously watching RCB and hopefully here next year in some capacity,” he concluded.

It is apropos to mention here that Kohli, who is struggling to score big has now played more than a hundred matches without being able to score a century.

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KARACHI: Former Pakistani fast-bowler and 1992 World Cup winner Aqib Javed claimed that the former Indian batter Virat Kohli has lost his peak and the top-ranked white-ball batter Babar Azam is now ahead of him.

Aqib, while responding to the rapid-fire questions in ARY News’ show Sports Room (Eid Special), claimed that India’s top batter Kohli, who has been struggling to find his form for the last two years, has lost his peak and the Pakistan captain Babar has surpassed him.

“Now I think Babar is ahead. He [Kohli] had his peak but now going down. But Babar, on the other hand, is going up,” Aqib said.

Aqib, on asked, also drew the comparison between the Indian and Pakistani pacers – Jasprit Bumrah and Shaheen Shah Afridi – and the wicket-keeper batters – Mohammad Rizwan and Rishabh Pant, claiming that both Pakistanis are also ahead of their Indian counterparts.

“I now think that Shaheen is better than Bumrah because when Shaheen came into the international circuit Bumrah had already established himself and the critics used to say that Bumrah is doing well in Tests, T20Is, and so but now Shaheen has proved he is even better and has more capacity than Bumrah,” he said.

“Rizwan is better than Pant these days. There is no doubt that Pant is an extremely skilful player but the way Rizwan takes the responsibility, Pant is well behind him. It is often said that Pant is an aggressive player, but the aggressiveness doesn’t mean to hit a couple of big shots and got out but to stay at the crease, fight, and finish the game,” Aqib added.

A piece of advice for young cricketers

The former pacer then responded to a question regarding Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad, saying they should play club cricket only.

“Umar Akmal should now play club cricket only because his attitude is like that and the same goes for Ahmed Shehzad,” he said.

The 1992 world cup winner, again in response to a question advised the young explosive batter, Azam Khan, to work on his fitness or quit cricket.

“I think Azam Khan should either quit cricket or become like a cricketer. He should work on his fitness,” Aqib said.

Suspension of departmental cricket

Aqib also backed the resurrection of departmental cricket and the former domestic cricket structure, claiming that the six-team domestic format did not serve Pakistan cricket.

“There is nothing as the roots and club cricket are also suspended due to this new six-team domestic setup. I can design the structure they’ve created in less than half an hour “Aqib remarked.

Ramiz Raja as the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board

In answer to a question from the host on whether his old teammate Ramiz Raja should quit as Chairman of the PCB? Aqib was quick to react, saying, “Yes,” before clarifying that his policies were the same as his predecessors.

“The reason behind sacking Wasim Khan and Ehsan Mani was that they were not performing up to the mark or their policies were inadequate but since Ramiz took over, neither a board official has been dismissed nor has he made any policy changes,” Aqib explained.

“It signifies that the same momentum is still in effect, with only the face changed and nothing new done,” he concluded.

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KARACHI: Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar has claimed that if he had played against India’s top batter Virat Kohli, he would not be able to score this many runs.

Akhtar, during an interview with an Indian sports website during the discussion on one of the matches of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), claimed had he played against Kohli, the latter wouldn’t have ended with so many runs in his career or have 70 international centuries across formats.

“Virat Kohli is a good person and a big cricketer and you only expect big words from big players. And I thank him a lot for that. But, if I would have played against Virat Kohli then he would not have scored these many runs but whatever he would have scored those would have been fabulous and it would look that he really fought hard for those runs,” he said.

“He may not have had 50 centuries. 20 or 25 may at the most but those would have been valiant hundreds. I would have gotten the best out of Virat Kohli,” Akhtar added.

Virat, on the other hand, had previously spoken in an interview on facing Akhtar, adding that the latter appeared to be very lethal even at the later stages of his career.

“I’ve never faced Shoaib Akhtar but I’ve seen him in a game in Dambulla against Pakistan. I got out, [so] I couldn’t face him. But I saw him bowl and he looked very lethal even at the later stages of his career,” Kohli said.

“At that time, I felt [that] batsmen would not have wanted to face him when he was at his peak,” he concluded.

It is pertinent to mention here that Kohli and Akhtar shared the field in only one instance which was back in the 2010 Asia Cup. However, Kohli’s early dismissal denied a contest between the two as the right-arm spinner Saeed Ajmal castled Kohli for 18.

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KARACHI: Former Indian captain Virat Kohli has gifted his signed shirt to Sri Lankan all-rounder Dhananjaya de Silva, the latter shared.

Kohli, who captained the Indian cricket team in more than 200 matches across all three formats has gifted his signed shirt to the Sri Lankan all-rounder de Silva.

Taking to Instagram, de Silva shared a picture of Kohli’s signed shirt with ‘Best Wishes’ written over it.

“Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong,” he wrote on the social media platform.

“Thank you for the gift [Virat Kohli], you are an amazing ambassador for cricket. Keep inspiring more generations,” the statement added.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Dhananjaya de Silva (@dhananjaya_75)

It is pertinent to mention here that Kohli is considered one of the batters in world cricket currently. He has also gifted his bat to Pakistan’s pacer Mohammad Amir during the teams’ training session on the eve of the Pakistan-India clash in the ICC T20 World Cup 2016.

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MOHALI: India’s wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant missed out on his well-deserved hundred by a mere four runs but the home side piled up 357/6 on the first day of the first Test against Sri Lanka, here on Friday.

The left-handed batter Pant, who scored a quick 96 remained unlucky to reach a triple-figure mark as Suranga Lakmal cleaned him up with a brilliant delivery. The left-hander scored 96 off 97 balls with the help of nine boundaries and four sixes and put his side into the commanding position.

Earlier, after opting to bat first, Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal provided a solid foundation to the home side with a brilliant 52-runs partnership for the first wicket. Rohit, who was accelerating his innings quickly, perished after scoring 29 off just 28 balls; smashing six boundaries.

Mayank, too, soon perished after putting on a brief 38-runs partnership with Virat Kohli. He scored 33 off 49 balls, laced with five boundaries.

Virat then recorded an important 90-runs partnership with Hanuma Vihari. The former captain, who was playing his 100th Test match, appeared confident to reach his much-awaited 71st century, perished after Lasith Embuldeniya castled him on 45. The right-handed batter also hit five boundaries.

Following his departure, Vihari also walked back to the pavilion after scoring a magnificent half-century. The young batter scored 58 off 128 balls, laced with five boundaries.

Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja then made sure that the side do not lose further wickets as the pair put on an unbeaten 25 runs partnership before the stumps on the opening day.

Ashwin (10*) and Jadeja (45*) will now resume the proceedings for the home side at 357/6 on the second day of the first Test.

For Sri Lanka, Embuldeniya claimed two wickets, while Lakmal, Vishwa Fernando, Dhananjaya de Silva, and Lahiru Kumara struck out a batter each.

READ: Imam’s century puts Pakistan in commanding position at the stumps

KARACHI: Virat Kohli stepped down as India’s skipper in Test cricket after seven years, the cricketer announced on social media. 

Taking to social media, Kohli announced to leave Test captaincy after having a good time at the helm.

🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/huBL6zZ7fZ

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) January 15, 2022

Under Kohli, India played 68 Tests, won 14, lost 17, and 11 were drawn.

Earlier in 2021, Kohli announced to leave captaincy in white-ball cricket after the all-important T20 World Cup.

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