Virat Kohli is a world-class player, knows his strengths and weaknesses and plays accordingly: Saeed Ajmal

Former Pakistan cricketer Saeed Ajmal lavished praise on the flamboyant India batter, Virat Kohli, by acknowledging his consistent performances. Notably, Kohli is gearing up for the forthcoming Asia Cup which is scheduled to begin on August 30, jointly hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Ahead of the ACC event, former Pakistan off-spinner Ajmal in a recent interview lauded Kohli for his consistent performances despite enduring a lean patch. Furthermore, he kept Kohli and legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar in the same sentence considering that they have a solid understanding of their ‘strengths and weaknesses’ and keep improvising their gameplay as per the conditions they are playing in. 

“He (Virat Kohli) is a world-class player. Like every player, he also underwent a lean patch. A lot was said then but a good batter cannot always score a century in every outing. Anyways, he along with Sachin (Tendulkar) is the leading run-scorer which testifies their skills and how good they are. Like Sachin, he has performed consistently for the team. He knows his strengths and weaknesses and he plays accordingly,” Ajmal told The New Indian Express.

Kohli was last seen in action during the first ODI match against the West Indies in the recently concluded multi-format series. Meanwhile, team India will start their campaign in the Asia Cup against the arch-rivals, Pakistan, at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, in Kandy, Sri Lanka, on September 2. 

Virat Kohli and Babar Azam have lots of similarities: Saeed Ajmal

While Virat Kohli has flourished into becoming arguably one of the best batters in the current era, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has been just as good with the bat for his side across the three formats. In the same vein, Saeed Ajmal drew parallels between Kohli and Azam, as he expressed that the two play their game cautiously at the beginning and then shift gears to score big. 

“He and Pakistan skipper Babar Azam have a lot of similarities. They start cautiously but accelerate at the right time in the shortest format. They reach fifty in no time. These are signs of a great player. They are effortless and can play match-winning knocks in any situation,” Ajmal concluded.