Former Indian batter and commentator Mohammad Kaif has heaped praise on the Indian talismanic batter Virat Kohli for showing his new side of scoring nine sixes in his unbeaten 139-run knock in the first ODI against the West Indies in Trivandrum.
Speaking exclusively on his YouTube channel after India’s thumping eight-wicket win against the Caribbeans, Kaif asserted that until Kohli’s bat does the talking, no one has the guts to touch him, which he made clear in this fixture.
“I still remember when Kohli got out for consecutive ducks in Australia, people told him to retire and that he cannot do it now. After that, Kohli has scored 900 runs in 11 innings with four hundreds. He has played only 11 innings in a year, which is one match per month. Despite not playing regularly, the way he has batted in this game, he is a boundary hitter, but he scored nine sixes here. He has not done this before. This is something new. This is his new side. He is showing that he is 37, has had a long career with ups and downs, but his weapon is his bat. Until his bat is doing the talking, no one has the guts to touch him. Nobody can touch him. He has made this clear,” he said in a video on his YouTube channel.
Further, Kaif showered praise on the veteran No.3 batter for his exceptional consistency in ODIs and the Indian Premier League (IPL). Later, he advised youngsters and budding cricketers to take key learnings from Kohli’s hunger, determination and hard work to keep themselves fit.
“He plays in the IPL, there he made RCB champions back-to-back. Here in ODIs he is scoring in all games. This is brilliant. Youngsters need to learn his fitness, his hunger, his determination, his hard work and to keep yourself at that level. His end goal is to win games and come not out. This is Virat Kohli. You can learn this from him,” he added.
