Legendary West Indies batsman Vivian Richards has now spoken out about how much he admires the Indian batting maestro Virat Kohli and praised the ace Indian batter to the game of cricket, for his extraordinary mental toughness, which has allowed him to come out on top in the difficult situations.
Virat Kohli is having a fantastic 2023 World Cup for the Indian team. With 543 runs scored in eight matches thus far, The 35-year-old is the leading run-scorer in the tournament for India. The former Indian skipper is the third-highest run-scorer in the mega event, with two centuries and four half-centuries so far.
Speaking to the ICC, Vivian Richards praises Virat Kohli for his approach to the game and feels that his mental toughness separates him from the other cricket players in the ODI World Cup. He believes that the Indian batting maestro has developed his technique around his mindset, which enables him to play at the greatest level.
“Virat is a go-getter and what sets him apart is his mental strength. He will have backed himself throughout, and on the occasions in the past in which I have chatted with him and we have discussed things, his mental strength has always been evident,” Vivian Richards said.
“That has been key to pushing him through to how he is playing now. Very few players, or people, are built like that,” Vivian Richards added.
Virat Kohli is certainly one of the fittest cricketers in world cricket and the veteran Indian batter is known for his aggressive and tough mentality in cricket and the star Indian batter would look to continue his fine form going forward.
Virat Kohli Will Have Been Through Some Tough Times Before This World Cup – Vivian Richards
Vivian Richards feels that Virat Kohli has gone through some tough times in International cricket before the marquee event on home soil and believes that there can whole lot of talented individuals in World Cricket but it is difficult to look past the former Indian skipper. He also expressed his admiration for Kohli, ranking him as one of the game’s all-time greats.
“Virat will have been through some tough times before this World Cup and some folks were even brave enough to call for his head. There have been a whole host of talented individuals on show but to top them all, you cannot look past Virat Kohli”.
“I am a huge fan of Virat, I have been for a long time, and he continues to show why he has to go down as one of the all-time greats, right up there with the likes of the great Sachin,” Vivian Richards added.
It is important to remember that during the nearly three years between November 2019 and September 2022 but scored fifty or more runs on a regular basis and found his form starting from the Asia Cup 2022, where he impressed in all three formats of the game.