Robin Uthappa heaped praise on Indian captain Virat Kohli, insisting that it is 'phenomenal' to see him excel in each format with consistency.
Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa heaped praise on Indian captain Virat Kohli, saying that it is 'inspiring' to watch him prepare for every format of the game.
Talking on Star Sports' show 'Cricket Connected', Uthappa said that Virat approaches every format with a different mindset, and plans his shots according to the requirements of the format.
"When you watch him (Virat) bat from one version of the game to another, you can see how clearly, he has planned for each version of the game. In one-day cricket, he almost never hits the ball in the air, unless it's completely required during the course of the game," said Uthappa.
"Similarly, in Test cricket, he is only going to hit the ball in the air once he has passed 120 or 150. But in T20 cricket, he pulls out the big shots and his orthodox big shots that you don't even think that he will play it, because you have seen him play so much of good cricket along the ground in ODI & Test cricket that you don't anticipate him playing that. Suddenly, the bowlers have to plan for each version of the game.
"For me, someone like Virat, the way he approaches each version of the game is just phenomenal. It's kind of inspiring, like what must be going through that mind for him to be able to concede those ideas and say, ‘Ok, these are my shots for T20 cricket, these are my shots for one-day cricket, and these are my shots for 5-day cricket. It's just amazing." (ALSO READ: Yet to discuss IPL schedule, says Sourav Ganguly)
The Indian captain is presently the only cricket to have an average of over-fifty in all the three formats of the game. In addition, he is also the highest run-scorer in the T20Is. Among present cricketers, Virat also has the most number of international centuries (70).
David Warner is the closest to Virat among the current cricketers with 43 international tons. Overall, only Sachin Tendulkar (100) and Ricky Ponting (71) have more international centuries than the Indian captain.
Robin Uthappa also talked about India's limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma on the show. Talking about his batting, Uthappa said that Rohit makes stroke-playing look 'effortless'.
"When I look at Rohit, I feel he has got eternity to play a ball. It just baffles you like where does he create that time. It's amazing to watch and so effortless," said Uthappa.
