Sachin Tendulkar Is A Legend But It Is So Hard To Look Past Virat Kohli, Says Chris Woakes
Apr 6, 2019 at 2:13 PM
Heaping lavish praise on Virat Kohli, England all-rounder Chris Woakes has said it is ‘hard to look past Virat’ when it comes to choosing the best Indian cricketer right now.
The India skipper has drawn huge comparisons with batting legend Sachin Tendulkar due to his extraordinary batting exploits and Woakes, while admitting that Tendulkar is a legend, said that Kohli’s phenomenal form has made it hard for others to look past him.
Interacting with the fans on Facebook Live, after Kolkata Knight Riders bought him for a whopping Rs 4.2 crore, he said:
“Legend is Sachin (Tendulkar) isn’t it? I think the way Virat Kohli goes about his business now is..you know he’s very good. He took over the team and led by example, that’s pretty impressive and it is so hard to look past Virat.”
The highly-rated all-rounder, who was the third costliest England player after Ben Stokes and Tymal Mills in the IPL auction, will have to do the huge task of replacing Andre Russell who has been banned for a year for violating the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) whereabouts clause.
And Woakes is looking forward to the challenge. Expressing his excitement over the prospect of playing with and against world’s best players, he said:“I am hoping it to be a fantastic spin of the my career. It will be great experience, going to India, playing in such a fantastic tournament with world’s best players. It will not only be a good experience but also good for my game. Hopefully, I will learn from these players, learn from experienced coaches as well. If I could do that, it will be a positive step in the right direction.”
Woakes further said that he was looking forward to playing under the captaincy of Gautam Gambhir.
“Gautam Gambhir is a brilliant player. He is very experienced and played in all sorts of conditions. Played for India for a long period of time. We recently played against him in the Test series before Christmas. His records speak for himself. I am looking forward to playing under his captaincy and looking forward to joining my Kolkata teammates,” Woakes said.