Virat Kohli has married his ability to hunger & drive, says Williamson

Mumbai: India skipper Virat Kohli is considered one of the best in the business at present and New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson believes that a lot of this has to do with the maturity that has come with playing for the country for so long as well as making some quality decisions. Williamson also pointed at Kohlis hunger and desire to do well as reasons why the run-machine has become a name that gives opposition bowlers nightmares.

Speaking on Star Sports show Cricket Connected, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson highlighted the difference in Virat Kohli in comparison to 2008. “You can say that it was only a matter of time before he was making some strong inroads to the full international scene. At the moment, leading the way in cricket and setting the standard as a batter and breaking all these records. A lot of that probably has to come down to his maturity, his ability to make very good decisions.

“Not only is he gifted with his ability and his natural ability, but you’re marrying that up with this constant drive and hunger to improve and just be better day in and day out. Yeah, we are fortunate to play against each other, it’s been great to meet at a young age and follow his progress and journey,” he said.

Kohli on May 22 sent out an Instagram post with Williamson which read: “Love our chats. Good man @kane_s_w.” It once again showed the affection Kohli has for his New Zealand counterpart and Williamson spoke about the journey the two have shared.

“It’s been interesting, we’ve had to play against each other for a long period of time. But actually, probably over the last few years we just shared our views on the game, some honest thoughts and found some common grounds and despite perhaps playing the game little bit differently in terms of physically and may be our on-field characters I suppose,” he said.

The two are considered amongst the best in the business in the world at present and Kohli has time and again praised the Kiwi skipper.

Following Black Caps’ whitewash in the three-match Test series in Australia, Kohli stood by Williamson and said: “I don’t think leadership can always be determined by the results. It’s also about how you can get the team together and get the guys functioning under you as well, which I think Kane has done wonderfully well.

“He has the respect of his teammates and he has the trust of his teammates, is what I can see, and he’s also a very, very smart cricketer.”