Australia’s ace batsman Steve Smith and Indian captain Virat Kohli are two of the greatest batsmen to grace the sport in the modern era.
The two have been playing a game of cat and mouse when it comes to retaining the top spot in the ICC Test rankings for batters.
The two batting extraordinaire will come at loggerheads with each other yet again later this year when India tours Australia.
When asked about the thing about Kohli, which Smith admires the most, the Australian cited out his passion and willingness to strive for improvement continually.
“I admire Virat (Kohli) a lot, he is an amazing player. You look at his record now… simply incredible. He has done so much for India in cricket. You know the way they play the game now and the sheer passion he has got for Indian cricket,” Smith told Sony Ten Pit Stop on their Facebook show.
“His willingness to improve and get better. His body seems to have transformed over time and he looks so fit and powerful,” Smudge added.
Kohli is hailed as the modern-day ‘Chasemaster’, due to his ability to chase down monumental totals for the Indian team single-handedly, on almost every occasion. Even Smith could not help but admire this quality of King Kohli.
“The one thing I admire about him is the way he chases in white-ball cricket. You look at his average in winning chases in ODIs, and it is simply phenomenal,” he said.
Looking forward to the upcoming clash of the titans for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Smith affirmed that there are ‘plenty of challenges’ in hand. Namely, Cheteshwar Pujara, who scored the highest number of runs in the four-match Test series in 2018.
“Plenty of challenges, I think because India is an incredible team. Their batting line-up is so strong. Virat… (Cheteshwar) Pujara last time here was immovable… (Ajinkya) Rahane a quality Test player. Then they have got KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma. They have got batters everywhere,” the 31-year-old cited out.
Also, according to Smith, Australians have their task cut out to deal with the pace attack of India, who troubled the hosts during their last visit Down Under.
“They have got a great batting line-up to go with a strong bowling line-up. They have got (Mohammad) Shami and Jasprit Bumrah…Ishant Sharma has been here plenty of times as well. So a well-rounded team and it is going to be a terrific series this summer that’s for sure,” concluded Smith.
