Courtney Walsh and Virat Kohli. (Photo Source: Twitter and RANDY BROOKS/AFP via Getty Images)
Indian legend Virat Kohli, in his 500th international game, is on the brink of another milestone. After the end of the play on Day 1 of the second Test match of the West Indies tour, Kohli was unbeaten on 87. If he manages to score 13 more runs in the innings, the 34-year-old will become the first player to score a century in his 500th international match.
As Kohli is just nearing another milestone, experts and pundits from every corner of the world have started praising him. West Indies legend Courtney Walsh compared the star Indian batter with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Javed Miandad. The former West Indies pacer thinks Kohli is definitely in the top five greatest cricketers of all time, but he puts him behind Sachin in terms of Indian star’s rankings.
“Well, as an Indian great, I would rate him just behind Sachin. Sachin is one of the greatest I have seen and played against,” Walsh said while talking to JioCinema.
The value they put on their wickets reminded me of Virat Kohli: Courtney Walsh
“Brian Lara, Viv Richards, I will put them up from a West Indian point of view. Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh. Two gentleman I played when I was a youngster. There are also Graham Gooch from England and Javed Miandad, against whom I probably did not as much games, but the value they put on their wickets reminded me of Virat Kohli as well. He doesn’t want to go. So I will definitely have him in my top 4, top 5 greatest cricketers I have seen,” he further added.
Interestingly, Kohli scored 76 runs in the first Test match, and hence this is his second consecutive fifty-plus score on the tour. It is worth mentioning that Virat has played 111 Tests, 274 ODIs, and 115 T20Is; he also recently became the fastest player to reach the landmark of 25000 runs in International cricket.
Meanwhile, India won the first Test match in Dominica. So, the Rohit Sharma-led side is currently leading the two-match series 1-0. Before the start of play, the Windies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite won the toss and elected to bowl first. The Indian side ended the day on 288/4, with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit together adding 139 runs for the opening partnership. It will be interesting to see if Kohli scores his 29th Test century on the Day 2 at the Queens Park Oval.