For Virat Kohli, universe is the limit: Irfan Pathan

The world is falling short of adjectives to describe the Indian captain Virat Kohli. He is batting like a dream and almost every time that he walks out to bat in One-Day International cricket doesn’t settle for anything but a hundred. He scored the 35th ODI ton of his career and has played just 208 matches. Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan found the perfect way to describe his game and said, he’s “playing like a miracle”.

Irfan was in Bangalore at the Cricket Academy of Pathans (CAP) centre in the city and on the sidelines talked to CricTracker. Like everyone else, he is in awe of the way Virat is batting and termed him the best batsman in the world across the three formats.

“Virat Kohli is the best batsman 100% the way he is batting and the records speak volumes of what an amazing form he is in. He is very very consistent and that stands him way ahead of the rest,” Pathan said.

Rohit and Shikhar are not too far behind

He termed Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane a really good player for the longer format and also thinks that Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan aren’t too far behind Kohli in terms of their ODI game. “I really believe Ajinkya Rahane is a really good Test player, in ODIs with Virat – Rohit and Shikhar are not too far behind,” the 33-year-old added.

Irfan praised Rohit for his ability to produce the big knocks with little or no trouble whatsoever. He said: “He’s outstanding. When he scores a hundred he goes big. His movement into the shots is very fluent and thus shot making is very easy for him. He plays the big ones with such ease and he is very still while playing his shots. It is this ability to play the big ones that makes it much easier for him to get the big knocks.”

He further said that the way Virat Kohli is playing he has redefined consistency and is at a different level altogether. Pathan opines that the 29-year-old’s fitness standard gives him an edge over the rest and backs him to break most records by the time he is done with his career.

He is playing like a miracle

“The way he is going, for him the term ‘sky is the limit’ falls short, for him ‘universe is the limit’. He is really fit and that makes it easier for him to keep going and I am sure he will be able to play for the next 8-9 years as he plans. His fitness also helps him take the singles and doubles, his ability to gather so many runs without taking a lot of risks is again a standout feature,” he stated.

“35 hundreds at 29 is unbelievable. He surpassed Ricky Ponting the second player with most hundreds long back and he just churns out the hundreds day in day out. He is playing like a miracle,” Irfan concluded.