Virat Kohli is a modern-day Viv Richards: Ramiz Raja

Young opening batsman Ishan Kishan had to warm the bench in the fourth T20 International against England as he suffered a groin injury and was effectively replaced by Suryakumar Yadav in the Playing XI. Ishan had made his debut for India in the second T20I against England and ended up winning the Man of the Match Award for his scintillating knock of 56 runs off 32 deliveries.

Ishan was accompanied by the Indian skipper and batting great Virat Kohli on the other end in the second T20 International as Virat had also played a sublime knock of 73 runs to take India to the finishing line. The former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja seemed highly impressed with Ishan Kishan as he heaped praises on the youngster.

Ramiz was in awe of the Indian skipper too as he hailed Kohli as the modern-day Viv Richards and reckoned that Ishan would have reaped a lot of benefits by confidence while playing alongside Virat in his first international innings.

“He (Ishan Kishan) was lucky to have a partnership with Kohli because he is a modern-day great and in my view, he is a modern-day Viv Richards. It would have given Ishan Kishan confidence and we can expect a lot from him in the future,” Raja said on his YouTube channel.

Ramiz Raja lauds Ishan Kishan apart from Virat Kohli

“Ishan Kishan has great potential and talent. Ishan does terrific power-hitting, he is short-heighted but times the ball sweetly plays on both offside and leg-side, and hits sixes. On the day he is a game-changer and made a brilliant half-century on debut.

“He played with freedom and he has come in a great environment where the captain at the non-striker’s end claps on his every shot. He has been given the license that we are changing the direction of our batting and you go and hit sixes and fours. If you get out in the process, no problem,” he added.

Further, the former Pakistan captain lauded the authorities and Indian team management for identifying the talent from the Indian Premier League (IPL) and giving the players a chance to shine on the international platform.

“Unless you identify the outstanding performers of IPL and give the performers a chance, you won’t progress the way it should. India took the chance and it turned out to be great,” he concluded.