Miandad calls Kohli ‘best in the world’

Pakistan legend praises India skipper’s genius batting technique

Pakistan batting legend Javed Miandad believes India skipper Virat Kohli’s willow-wielding technique is unmatched which makes him the best in the world in modern-day cricket.

Miandad, while talking to PakPassion, explained how Kohli is able to churn out runs even in the most difficult of conditions for India.

“In Kohli’s case, his batting method is what allows him to score runs not just once but almost every time he comes in to bat,” said Miandad. “If a batsman’s technique is bad, he can score runs once in a while, but he will not be able to do that consistently."

He added: "To me the mark of a great batsman like Kohli is the fact that he can vary his technique by quickly adjusting to the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition bowlers. This makes Kohli a genius who is the best batsman in the world.”

On U19 team’s loss to India

Miandad, who scored 7,381 runs for Pakistan in ODIs at an average of 41.70 in 233 matches, thinks Pakistan U19 team qualifying for the semis of the recently concluded World Cup was more luck and less skill.

“The loss to India in the U19 World Cup was by a big margin of 203 runs, which is hard to take but truth be told, our team was lucky to have progressed that far given the inexperience of our players,” he said.

He continued by saying that praising their effort but rued the lack of skill put on display by the U19 side.

“Of course, victory and defeat are part of any sport, but we need to accept that there was a huge difference in terms of skills between India and Pakistan,” he said. “Also, we should not be too hard on our boys as we saw how, recently in South Africa, the Indian senior team, which has some very big names, failed miserably in two of the three Tests. So such things can happen, and we cannot be too harsh on the Pakistan U19 team.”