Virat Kohli is like Roger Federer, Steve Smith reminds me of Rafael Nadal: AB de Villiers

AB de Villiers, the former South African cricketer, has compared Indian skipper Virat Kohli to the legendary Roger Federer. The Swiss tennis star has aged like fine wine at even at the age of 38, he is regarded as one of the best in the business. He also has 20 singles grand slam titles to his name, the most by any player. ABD said that both Virat and Roger are natural strikers of the ball.

As far as records are concerned, Virat has broken quite a few in his career, having scored over 21,000 runs for Team India. In the meantime, De Villiers also drew Steve Smith’s parallel with Rafael Nadal. The Spanish tennis star isn’t far behind Federer, having notched 19 grand slam singles title.

De Villiers reckons that like Nadal, Smith is mentally strong. The Pretoria-born said that despite not being pretty to the eye, both manages to pile up the records. The veteran expressed his opinions during an Instagram Live session with former Zimbabwe cricketer Pommie Mbangwa.

Virat has scored runs all over the world: AB de Villiers

“Virat is more of a natural ball striker. If you look at natural ball strikers, Virat is like Federer. Smith is more like Nadal, he’s mentally very strong. He’s figured out a way to score runs, he doesn’t look too natural but he manages to break records. Virat though has scored runs all over the world and he’s my pick,” De Villiers was quoted as saying.

During the interaction, Mbangwa also put forth a fan question, asking ABD to pick his favourite cricketer between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar. Even as ABD stated that Sachin has been a role model, he reckons that Virat transcends the Master Blaster in run-chases.

“Sachin has been a role model for both of us, the way he stood out in his era and the things he achieved with grace is a great example. Virat will also say that he’s (Tendulkar) the main guy and he set the standards.

“When it comes to me personally, Virat is the best (in run-chases) I’ve seen in my life. Sachin was amazing in all situations, but in terms of chasing under pressure, Virat tops him,” he added.