Kapil Dev ranks Kohli ahead of Richards, Tendulkar, Lara and Ponting

India’s 1983 World Cup winning captain and legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev feels Virat Kohli is a step ahead of greats such as Viv Richards, Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar. Dev also felt that Joe Root and Kane Williamson is the best in business in contemporary cricket in all three formats of the game

“The more I see of Virat the one step ahead of some of the greats like Richards, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting. Let there be a debate but I am clear in my opinion that Virat, despite achievers like Joe Root and Kane Williamson, is the best in business in contemporary cricket in all three formats of the game. He will grow into the best of all time because of his awesome potential to adapt without fuss,” Kapil Dev wrote in his column for Mid-Day.

Kapil Dev stressed that Kohli’s attitude and confidence in the dressing room are what helps him to keep his nerve under pressure. “To me, the outstanding feature of Virat’s batting is his use of the crease. He is the lord of the crease and that gives him the freedom to always look for runs. This quality transfers the pressure to the bowlers because he tends to defy the field with ridiculous ease,” he wrote.

As per recent reports Kohli, India’s test cricket captain is on his way to becoming the biggest sports celebrity in the country having already joined the Rs 100 crore clubs this year with 13 brands under his belt. He has been in tremendous form in recent times. He batted brilliantly in Australia and then continued his golden run in the Asia Cup T20 in Bangladesh. Having failed to take India home in the run-chase against the Kiwis in the opening World T20 encounter, he played a match-winning knock from a tricky situation against arch-rivals Pakistan.