 "Kohli best in business: De Villiers compares him to Federer, Woods, Messi")
Virat Kohli’s century in his 100th Test has made former South Africa captain AB de Villiers compare him to the best athletes in different sports. De Villiers, who played alongside Kohli for the Indian Premier League franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore, said that Kohli’s desire to be the best has put him on the pedestal with the very best in the world.
“I see a similar thing in the greatest sportsmen worldwide. I have seen Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Djokovic. All of them have one thing in common which is desire hunger and a fighting spirit.
The desire to never give up they want to win the medals they want to be the champions you see Ronaldo and Messi that’s the thing that makes Virat Kohli the best in the business,” de Villiers said in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel AB de Villiers 360.
De Villiers who hit 8765 Test runs in 114 games, felt that success in red-ball cricket always makes a batter feel special. He reaasoned that the challenge of batting six to seven hours a day overpowers a burst of 10-20 overs quick showdown of limited overs.
“Even though I have performed in T20s and have scored ODI centuries. White ball cricket was more or less a thing where just going into the right frame of mind on that particular day, you can get over the hurdles you won’t be challenged all day.
But to get a Test century even on wicket which is not offering a lot to the bowlers, you still have to bat for 6-7 hours sometimes because they are that patient with their fields, It is just testing you constantly. I have always cherished as a cricketer to be in those situations,” said the 39-year-old who scored 22 hundreds and 46 fifties for the Proteas in the longest format.