Baichung Bhutia amazed with Virat Kohli's consistency

Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli who is in the middle of a purple patch in his international career continues receiving adulations. This time the admirer is Baichung Bhutia who himself captured the imaginations of fans through his exploits on the football field. Bhutia revealed that he was amazed by Kohli’s consistency at the highest level. With 2595 international runs to his name in the 2016 calendar, Kohli has had a dream year and would look to continue his heroics in the upcoming limited-overs series against England starting from 15th January.

He has left experts and former players scratching their head with his sheer consistency and hard work as one rarely comes across a player of Kohli’s level. His work ethics and dedication has made him stand where he is today. Irrespective of the opposition, conditions and situations, Kohli has scored heaps of runs against every team and has given a hard time to the opposition captain.

During an exclusive chat with India Today, the former India Football captain Baichung Bhutia lauded Kohli for his consistent performances but conceded that it will be unjust to compare Kohli with the “Master Blaster” Sachin Tendulkar.

“Virat Kohli has been phenomenal. To score so many runs and to do it so consistently is great. It would be unfair to compare him with Sachin Tendulkar. Tendulkar has achieved so much, he has created so many milestones. Kohli has become a brand, he is in his own territory,” said Bhutia.

“One of the good years in terms of Indian sports and football. Bengaluru FC reaching the finals of the AFC Cup is a great achievement. It would have been better if they had won it but to reach the finals itself is an achievement. Olympics performance was a bit disappointing… it could have been better. But two women athletes winning the medals was a great thing. Indian cricket team reaching the top of the Test rankings was expected. It didn’t come as a surprise as they were performing well,” he said.

Bhutia who is among the very few Indian footballers who have a worldwide fan base was happy with India’s recent performances in football and congratulated them for claiming their highest ranking in 6 years after being placed 135th in the FIFA rankings.

“It was also a good year for Indian football team. Ending the year on 135 rank is a big improvement,” he said.