Virat Kohli Setting Standards That We Probably Thought Could Never Be Achieved: Rahul Dravid

Legendary Rahul Dravid has lauded Virat Kohli for his remarkable feats in international cricket. The former India skipper was all praise for the way the current skipper has been setting standards on the field. At just 30, Kohli has scored a staggering 10,843 runs in 227 ODIs. He averages 60.08 and is already the second highest centurion in ODIs with 41 tons to his name. He now trails Tendulkar’s record tally of 49 centuries by just 8 and is more than likely to break it in the coming days.

Earlier this year, he scripted history by becoming the first player in history to win the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year, as well as the ICC Men’s Test Player of the Year and the ICC ODI Player of the Year awards. Kohli was also named captain of ICC’s Test and ODI teams of 2018 after yet another fruitful year with the bat. In 2018, Kohli scored 1,322 runs at an average of 55.08 in 13 Tests with five hundreds while in 14 ODIs he amassed 1202 runs at an astonishing average of 133.55 with six centuries.

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“Virat keeps getting better. He is setting standards that we probably thought could never be achieved. Sachin got 49 hundreds in one day cricket and we thought, at least I thought, could never be achieved. Now Virat is 10 away or close to it. So tribute to him when it comes to reinventing or reimagining yourself,” Rahul Dravid said during a recent award ceremony in Mumbai.

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Dravid also had a word of praise for his former teammate MS Dhoni. The former India batsman hailed Dhoni for his ability to soak pressure in high voltage encounters.

“The beauty about MS is that he plays a lot of these big tournaments, as they do not mean a lot. They obviously do. He is able to see a bigger picture. To say you are not being defined by that game. And it’s a hard thing to do. He does feel the pressure as we have seen in this IPL at times. But he is able to stay relaxed as if he is playing another match with friends in Ranchi.

It’s a special skill to have. To have an exam and approach it like it’s not an exam. We are lucky to have someone when the pressure is on at the back end of the game and can approach that way. It will definitely work on India’s favour (at the World Cup),” Rahul Dravid said.

Dravid, meanwhile, is currently serving as the coach of the India A and India U-19 team.