Australia's Steve Smith talked about Indian captain Virat Kohli, hailing his passion for the game.
Australia's Steve Smith and Indian captain Virat Kohli are widely regarded as two of the leading batsmen in modern-day cricket. While many consider Smith as the best batsman in the longest format of the game, Kohli's dominance across all the three formats of the game makes him stand apart.
In an interaction with Sony Ten, Steve Smith talked about Virat Kohli's batting, saying that he 'admires' the Indian batsman. Smith, who is the top batsman in the Test rankings, said that Virat's passion for the game has changed the Indian cricket for good.
"I admire Virat (Kohli) a lot, he is an amazing player. You look at his record now... simply incredible. He has done so much for India in cricket. You know the way they play the game now and the sheer passion he has got for Indian cricket," Smith said during a live interaction on Sony Ten Pit Stop show on their Facebook page.
"His willingness to improve and get better. His body seems to have transformed over time and he looks so fit and powerful."
When asked about the one thing he admires about Virat, Smith said that his chasing ability in the limited-overs cricket is 'phenomenal'.
"The one thing I admire about him is the way he chases in white-ball cricket. You look at his average in winning chases in ODIs and it is simply phenomenal," he said.
he two stalwarts of modern-day cricket will collide once again when India touchdown in Australia later this year. The four Tests of the series will be played at Gabba, Adelaide Oval, MCG and the SCG respectively starting December 3. (ALSO READ: Dinesh Karthik turns 35; Virat Kohli leads birthday wishes)
"Plenty of challenges I think because India are an incredible team. Their batting line-up is so strong. Virat... (Cheteshwar) Pujara last time here was immovable... (Ajinkya) Rahane a quality Test player. Then they have got KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma. They have got batters everywhere," Smith said.
"They have got a great batting line-up to go with a strong bowling line-up. They have got (Mohammad) Shami and (Jasprit) Bumrah...Ishant Sharma has been here plenty of times as well. So a well rounded team and it is going to be a terrific series this summer that's for sure."
