Australian legendary fast bowler Jeff Thomson has revealed his admiration for Virat Kohli in a recent interview with India Today. Considered by many as the fastest bowler the game has ever seen, Thomson seems extremely delighted with the aggressive attitude of Virat Kohli.
The 65-year old insists that Virat Kohli is a bit like Viv Richards when it comes to giving back to fast bowlers. He found a lot of similarities between the two batsmen as they are considered nightmare by their contemporary bowlers.
He said, “To me, he bats with a fast bowlers tenaciousness. He gives it back the same way it is dished out to him. A bit like Viv Richards.”
The legend had his say on the recent comparisons made between Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar after the remarkable season that Virat Kohli had. Thomson also believes that Sachin was aggressive with the bat but Virat is “outwardly aggressive”.
“He is more aggressive than Sachin. Sachin may have been aggressive with the bat but Virat is outwardly aggressive. Like all good batsmen you talk your tongue with the bat. He talks the talk and walks the walk. He backs it up”, he said
He also backed Virat to continue his aggressive nature and not change it for any reason, “Look if he was in my team and I was the coach I would just love it. If I was a ‘bowler’ in my side, I would want to carry on like that.”
Virat Kohli first met Jeff Thomson back in January 2016 when the latter was inducted into Australia’s Hall of Fame. Virat then went on to Thomson and said, “Thommo, I just wanted to meet you”.
Thomson had been a long admirer of the young cricketer as he said, “Mate, I saw you when you were young, loved your attitude, the way you gave it back to the Aussies.”
“I am not saying because of what he is now but I have always loved Virat from the day I saw him. I liked him from the time he first came to Australia and was a nobody. I thought this kid can bat. I just liked his attitude.”
Virat Kohli has been in sensational form in the last 18 months or so as he started rewriting the record books. He finished recetly concluded IPL with 973 runs and was awarded Man of the tournament in ICC T20 World Cup before that.