Virat Kohli is a Mirror-Image of Viv Richards: Ravi Shastri

Virat Kohli has been in scintillating form during the Indian team’s stay down under. Kohli also scored half-centuries in all the matches of the T20 series, helping his side to complete a 3-0 whitewash.

His amazing performances have seen him the center of praise for many. One of the most prominent of those personalities was Indian team director Ravi Shastri. The latter who gave up commentary to join the Indian side as a director made a comparison between Kohli and Viv Richards. The West Indian master blaster too made the same comparison when Kohli broke his record, becoming the fastest to 5000 runs in ODIs. Kohli also went on to credit Shastri for his revival following his dismal performance in the 2014 tour of England.

Ravi Shastri “Some of his (Kohli) batting reminded me of Viv – like the way the great man dominated all formats of the game he played. He is an in your face kind of batsman. Those were really minor issues. The important thing is he was ready to give it a try.”

The Indian director also went on to state that Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli could go on to make a formidable batting lineup.

“Shikhar has a license to be destructive at the top, that’s the role he has, and once his chances came off, there was no stopping him. Rohit is all class: brilliant, explosive and his nonchalance is frightening. Virat just tears attacks to shreds, carves them to pieces. He wields his willow like a fencer does to his sword.”

“They play for each other’s success and there’s been a massive improvement in all three departments of the game. If I have to pick one aspect that’s been most heartening then it got to be fielding in the last 14 months. It’s a road less traveled in our cricketing past,” stressed Shastri as he lauded the support staff for their roles.”