‘He reminds me of Javed Miandad…would rate him behind Sachin’: Courtney Walsh heaps praise on Indian star batter

In his momentous game, Virat Kohli finds himself on the verge of achieving a groundbreaking record in international cricket. The former Indian captain is currently participating in his 500th international match, a feat only accomplished by ten players worldwide and three from India. This remarkable milestone is taking place during the second Test match against West Indies at the Queens Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Kohli’s exceptional performance on Day 1, where he remained unbeaten on 87, has brought India’s total to an impressive 288 for four, leaving him just 13 runs away from becoming the first cricketer ever to score a century in his 500th international match.

As Kohli stands on the verge of yet another remarkable achievement, West Indies cricket legend Courtney Walsh has bestowed upon the 34-year-old an abundance of praise, drawing comparisons to the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Pakistan’s great Javed Miandad. The former West Indies fast bowler openly acknowledges that Kohli, who evokes memories of Miandad and England’s Graham Gooch, undoubtedly ranks among the top five greatest cricketers of all time. However, Walsh places him just below the esteemed Sachin in the pantheon of Indian cricket legends.

“Well, as an Indian great, I would rate him just behind Sachin. Sachin is one of the greatest I have seen and played against,” Walsh told JioCinema.

“Brian Lara, Viv Richards, I will put them up from a West Indian point of view. Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh. Two gentleman I played when I was a youngster. There are also Graham Gooch from England and Javed Miandad, against whom I probably did not as much games, but the value they put on their wickets reminded me of Virat Kohli as well. He doesn’t want to go. So I will definitely have him in my top 4, top 5 greatest cricketers I have seen,” he added.

Walsh also recalled one of his conversations with Kohli when he was a selector for West Indies. He expressed his belief that he saw greatness in Kohli even at a young age. Kohli went on to achieve remarkable success in his career, playing 111 Tests for India and scoring over 9500 runs. He also made 274 appearances in ODIs and 115 in T20Is, accumulating 12898 and 4008 runs respectively.

“He has got the passion for the game, he wants to leave a mark in the game. I remember having a conversation with him when I was the selector for West Indies, and he was the captain. We were having a chat. You could tell that he wants to be the best. He was willing to seek out advice from anyone that will help to do so. I am not surprised by the achievement. The passion he has and the drive he has to be the top 3, top 5 in everything he does,” Walsh said.

On Thursday, Kohli scored a remarkable 87 runs. He began his innings with a splendid straight drive, breaking a streak of 20 dot balls. As we head into day two, he is just 13 runs away from achieving his first century in an overseas Test since December 2018.

READ| Virat Kohli creates history, becomes 2nd Indian batsman after Sachin Tendulkar to achieve remarkable feat