PTI
New Delhi, Sept 13: He is among the best in the world but New Zealand captain and batting mainstay Kane Williamson prefers to be modest and stated here Tuesday that he has ‘learnt watching Virat Kohli’, and termed the Indian swashbuckler a ‘great player’.
“Virat’s a great player and his ability to dominate attacks through all three formats is very special. Certainly that I admire, I love watching him play and learn from a player like that,” the current World No.3 in the ICC Test rankings told reporters during a media interaction, here.
Williamson, Kohli along with Joe Root and Steve Smith are the ‘Big Four’ among world cricket’s premier batsmen and the New Zealand captain said each has different strengths.
“Smith and Root are both great players as well. All of us are different players, have different strengths. Trying to stick to his own gameplan. That everyone can do things differently and have a bit of success,” said the 26-year-old, who has a fantastic Test average of 51 plus with 4393 runs and 14 tons.
Williamson also asserted that he doesn’t have any problems in balancing captaincy and batting. “I am enjoying the challenge. We have a great bunch of guys and we are enjoying our cricket. We have to keep improving and that’s my focus as a captain. When I take that hat (captaincy) off, it’s my job as a batsman to play a role. It’s a slightly separate thing,” clarified Williamson.
Williamson and Kiwi coach Mike Hesson however, agreed in unison that it will be a ‘bit of scrap’ for their batsmen to face Ravichandran Ashwin & Co while their own spinners need to adapt quickly to the SG Test from kookaburra ball. He had no doubt in his mind that spin will play a crucial role in determining the fate of the series.
“In the previous series, spin played a huge part. At times batting was difficult. Playing India at home is one of the toughest challenges. As a team we are excited to get involved in this bit of scrap,” stated the amicable Kiwi.
