Former England pacer Darren Gough shared his first expression for Virat Kohli. Gough heaped huge praise on the former India skipper and compared him to legendary Sachin Tendulkar. Kohli is regarded among the greatest batters of the modern era and is often gets compared to Tendulkar who has scored 100 international centuries.
Gough recalled the first time he saw Kohli bat and said that the batting maverick had everything he looks for in a cricketer. The 33-year-old has already hit 70 centuries in international cricket.
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“When I first saw him playing in England, I thought, WOW… I thought Tendulkar was good. He was brilliant, a genius in fact, but this guy Virat Kohli is right up there with him. Amazing player, such style, aggression… everything I wanted to look for in a cricketer. He can take on the short ball, good against spin. He has got that arrogance, puts the cap on as well now and again,” Gough told Cricket.com.
Kohli first travelled to England with the Indian team in 2011 where he impressed many during the ODI series where he scored a century in Cardiff and followed with a half-century in Durham.
However, the 33-year-old is going through a lean patch as his last international century came way back in 2019. Kohli has been scoring half-centuries but he failed to convert them into triple-digit scores in recent times.
Gough talked about Kohli’s form and said ICC number 1 ranked Test batter Joe Root went through the same spell where he was struggling to get centuries despite getting 70s and 80s.
“I want him to get back scoring hundreds. We have seen Joe Root used to go through that spell – a lot of 70s, 80s and 90s. But I feel that with Virat, once he gets one, he would just keep going – hundred, hundred, hundred. And that’s what Joe Root has done. Virat is going though that spell and he just needs to score that first one and then he is going to cash in for the next 3-4 years,” added Gough.
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