Virat Kohli has taken the level up for every budding cricketer: Arun Lal

Former Indian player and cricket commentator Arun Lal praised Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli after he scored the double century in the first Test match of the series against West Indies. He said that Kohli had raised the bar for the upcoming younger cricketers.

Virat was the player of the tournament in the recently concluded World T20 2016 and the Indian Premier League (IPL). And he has transformed his form into the longest version of the game as well.

“Virat Kohli is the paradigm shift. He has taken the bar, the level up for every budding cricketer. He is a game changer, like Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly,” Arun Lal, who was speaking to reporters assembled at the annual awards ceremony of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) in Kolkata.

He also spoke about the achievements of former American athlete and two-time Olympic champion Charles Paddock as an example of the wonders which awaits those who believe in themselves.

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“It is a great honour for me to come here as the Chief Guest,” he said. “Charles Paddock (athlete) was short and people told him he could never win the 100 meters. But he believed in himself, he left his native place, sacked his coach and worked really hard. He went on to win the gold medal in the 100 meters sprint in the Olympics in 1920. His secret was: If you can, you can. My advice to all the youngsters will be to work hard and believe in oneself.”

Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly is expected to be renamed as the CAB president, but Lal believes that there is no one better than Ganguly to lead the administrative affairs of the CAB.

“He (Ganguly) was a great player, he is a great administrator. No one better than him,” Lal said.

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