Marcus Stoinis praises RCB captain Kohli; calls him ‘one of the best of all time nearly’

There is one similarity between two of the IPL’s Indian captains – Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli. Both these skippers command the respect of their players – even including the foreigners – irrespective of their contradictory results in the tournament. While Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK) were always among the frontrunners in the IPL 2019, Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) had the worse of starts to the tournament with six consecutive losses. However, the black-and-red brigade has still survived in the fray with some late wins and is not losing sight of a playoff berth even now.

Kohli had come under some criticism after the RCB’s shaky start in the tournament. His captaincy skills came under scanner and former cricketers like Gautam Gambhir said that he was lucky to still getting to lead the RCB. However, Kohli got the foothold gradually and has done well with the bat in the tournament as well. He has scored 400 runs from 11 matches so far at an average of 36 and strike rate of 134 plus and has also hit a hundred. The RCB won three of their last four games and now Kohli’s teammates have showered praise on him.

Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis, who came to the party on Wednesday night with a 34-ball 46 not out, and added 121 runs in just 11 overs with AB de Villiers (82 not out in 44 balls), has eulogised Kohli calling him “one of the best in the world” or “one of the best of all time nearly”.

Better to play with Kohli than against him, says Stoinis

According to the 29-year-old Aussie all-rounder, it is better to play with Kohli than against him and he has learnt a lot from the RCB skipper. He liked Kohli’s passion in the dressing room and said the latter is very clear and determined of what he wants to achieve on the field.

“I have known Virat for a while. It’s probably much better playing with him than against him. Yeah, I have learned quite a bit from him as well. His passion definitely rubs off on everyone in the change room. He is very clear, very determined, he knows what he wants to do. So it’s good to watch one of the best in the world, or one of the best of all time nearly, to go about his stuff,” Stoinis was quoted as telling reporters on the sidelines of an RCB training session.

Stoinis, who has played eight games in the IPL 12 so far scoring 179 runs at an average of 60 and strike rate of 136 plus.

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