IND vs SA: Former Australia Captain Greg Chappell Describes Virat Kohli As The "Most Complete Indian Batsman Of My Time"
Published - 29 Oct 2022, 05:31 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:14 AM
Greg Chappell, a legendary batsman from Australia, hailed Virat Kohli as the “most complete Indian batsman” of all time after watching the former captain thrash arch-rival Pakistan in their T20 World Cup opener.
Kohli smashed an unbroken 82 to rescue victory against Pakistan on Sunday, providing a perfect rebuttal to those who had questioned his place in the format.
The 74-year-old, who called the innings a “song by God,” claimed that no other great batsman in history could have dismembered an opponent so viciously without jeopardizing the finer points of the game of batting as Kohli did last Sunday night.
“Kohli is the most complete Indian batsman of my time. Only the greatest of champions have the courage and the intelligence to transport their imagination beyond the mortal plane. Kohli has that. Perhaps only Tiger Pataudi has come close to transcending a similar stratosphere,” Chappell wrote in a column for ‘The Sydney Morning Herald.
“Kohli played an innings that was as close to a ‘song by god’ as has ever been played in T20 cricket. Like a cat playing with a new skein of wool, Kohli teased then expertly picked apart an excellent Pakistan bowling attack until it lay unraveled, spent, and exposed on the green carpet of the MCG.”
Kohli’s performance against Pakistan legitimized T20 cricket: Greg Chappell
Kohli’s performance against Pakistan, according to Greg Chappell, “legitimized” T20 cricket. It was the most impressive batting display I have ever seen in my decades of watching cricket.
“Ironically, it was also the innings that legitimized T20 cricket as, dare I say it, an art form, more than any that I have seen in the past 15 years. Nobody can dismiss T20 cricket as simply entertainment ever again,” said Greg Chappell.
Kohli also made the decision to take a month off to address “mental” concerns. He then came back strong in the Asia Cup, when he hit his first century in three years against Afghanistan and his first in the shortest format.
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