I will be worried to bowl at Kohli, Wasim tells Rajdeep

Former Pakistan captain and arguably one of the best fast bowlers to have played the game, Wasim Akram, may have terrorised many top batsmen during his playing days but the ‘Sultan of Swing’ said he would be worried if he had to bowl at Indian batting superstar Virat Kohli.

With more than 400 wickets in both Test and One-day international cricket, Akram is widely regarded as the best left-arm fast bowler the game has ever seen due to his lightening speed and ability to swing the ball both ways.

However, the legendary bowler feels the Indian Test captain’s ability and technique, backed by his self-belief, makes him very hard to get rid of.

KOHLI IN SPECIAL ZONE

Kohli, who is the captain of Indian Premier League side Royal Challengers Bangalore, is in a special zone right now.

His 919 runs at a staggering strike-rate of over 151 in the current edition of the cash-rich league has put him head and shoulders ahead of the rest.

That’s not it. Kohli has scored four centuries - the most by any batsman in a single edition of the IPL - and has an average of 83.54.

‘Belief, his ability and on top of that his technique. We haven’t seen him play the reverse shot or the lap shot, he always plays proper cricketing shots with the full face of the bat.

That’s why he has been very consistent and as a bowler if I had to bowl at him, I will be worried. It’s like in ODI cricket when Sachin Tendulkar opened the innings, it was very difficult to bowl at him because Sachin as a batsman and Kohli as a batsman will hardly give you a chance to get them out,’ Akram told India Today in an exclusive chat.

‘Kohli has scored 36 sixes in this IPL ... they are lot of sixes. In my cricketing career, I have 50 plus sixes and those days sixes were rare. So, you can imagine he is powerful, he is strong and he can hit the ball miles outside the stadium. He has been a treat to watch,’ he added.

AB DE VILLIERS - THE MATCH-WINNER

Akram, who is in the coaching staff of Kolkata Knight Riders, also heaped praise on RCB`s South African batsman AB de Villiers, lauding his ability to win matches regardless of the situation.

‘Mr. 360, he plays beautifully well against the fast bowlers, equally well against the spinners... doesn’t matter the situation. He is a match-winner. He will win you a game single-handedly,’ he said.

NO COMPARISON

Akram, however, stopped short of comparing both the modern-day stars.

‘Very difficult to compare both of them. They have different techniques, they are different players but are very consistent and match-winners. Not just in this format but in all the formats. That’s why these guys are the best in the world,’ Akram concluded.

Source: India Today