From the skill point of view Virat is in the bracket with Sachin, Lara and Ponting: Stephen Fleming

Ever since he made his ODI debut in 2008 Virat Kohli’s following has seen a proliferate rise not just the fans but former cricketers and experts are in an unusual awe of how good this young man is. Joining the list is one of New Zealand’s most successful skippers Stephen Fleming. The Black Caps feels that Virat has it in him to become a great of the game.

Fleming went on to place the current Indian batting mainstay in the league of Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Ricky Ponting as far as cricketing skills are concerned. He is in India as a Brand Ambassador for ‘Education New Zealand’ and took the occasion to talk about Virat. “He is getting there. He hasn’t yet reached the level of Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Brian Lara, but that is only because they had such long careers. From a skill point of view, yes, Kohli is in that bracket. There are also batsmen like Williamson, Steve Smith, Joe Root and A.B. de Villiers who play a great brand of exciting cricket,” Fleming said.

New Zealand is all set to tour India for Test and limited over series and the former skipper feels that bowlers need to bowl with acute accuracy and for a considerable phase of the game to get Virat under pressure. But he also said that the opposition would be making a mistake if they focus a bit too much on Kohli since team India also has other match winners in Ajinkya Rahane and Ravichandran Ashwin.

“You must put Kohli under pressure by bowling long, accurate spells. But you cannot focus solely on Kohli, and forget about other in-form players like Ajinkya Rahane and Ashwin. This will be a mistake. It is similar to the past when certain teams used to concentrate just on Sachin Tendulkar, only to be stung by the likes of V.V.S Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag,” he said.

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He admitted that the visiting team will need some time to get used to the conditions here but also believed if experienced players in the likes of Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson step up it will be easier for others to adapt.

“The New Zealand side generally takes a while to adjust to foreign conditions. If the Tests are played on traditional Indian wickets — which I think they should, as z However, if guys like Ross Taylor and (skipper) Kane Williamson lead the way and the young guys adjust quickly, there is enough there to make it a competitive series,” he added.

Fleming also expressed his views that Test should maintain its status while there is a need to work out a way for the ODI cricket since bilateral series’ no longer attract huge interest as only the big ticket events appeal to the masses.

“You don’t want to tinker with Test cricket. ODI cricket, however, lacks relevance at times. It is very difficult to get excited about bilateral ODI series. Tournaments like the Champions Trophy and World Cup get big attention only because it is has some meaning. Relevance is key,” Fleming concluded saying.

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