India skipper Virat Kohli has in the last few years taken world cricket by storm and the accolades refuse to stop. But one of the men instrumental in backing him in his initial days as international cricket is then selector Kris Srikkanth. And the former chief selector has said that Kohli is one of his top selections during his tenure.

Speaking on Cricket Connected on Star Sports 1 Tamil, Srikkanth said: “Virat Kohli, R Ashwin and Murali Vijay are my top picks as a selector, the way they grew and were groomed, I’m really proud off.”

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Recently, England great Ian Botham said that Kohli was the perfect guy to lead the Indian team and he would have loved to play against the India skipper.

“Virat takes the game to the opposition, he takes a stand for his players. I would have loved to play against him. He is the right guy to take Indian cricket forward,” Botham said while speaking in an online chat session with Playwrite Foundation.

In fact, former England batsman Kevin Pietersen said that he rated Kohli above the legendary Sachin Tendulkar just because of the manner Kohli wins India games while chasing.

In an Instagram live video chat with commentator and former Zimbabwe pacer Pommie Mbangwa, Pietersen said that Kohli gets his pick because of the number of times he manages to complete chases successfully.

“Kohli is a freakshow, his record chasing winning games for India with the amount of pressure he lives under, Smith does not even come close to him,” said Pietersen.

He said it is this factor that also puts Kohli above Tendulkar in his books.

“Again, Virat because of his chasing numbers. His chasing numbers are frightening, he averages more than 80 when it comes to chasing, he consistently wins games for India, he keeps on turning the numbers, and this matters to me as to how many games you win for your country,” Pietersen said.

The coronavirus pandemic has brought the entire world to a standstill and the sporting arena is no exception. Most of the high profile tournaments including the Tokyo Olympics 2020 stand postponed.

Even the biggest cricketing spectacle on the planet, the Indian Premier League (IPL), stands suspended indefinitely owing to the coronavirus pandemic. Recently, Bundesliga became the first high-profile sporting event to resume after a 65 day period with almost no sporting activity.

The move comes after governments are beginning to realise that the coronavirus is here to stay for quite some time and sports among other businesses will need to find a way to co-exist with it.

The virus has already infected close to 5.5 million people around the world while claiming over 3.5 lakh lives. There is still no sure shot treatment of the disease and social-distancing, self-isolation and maintenance of basic hand hygiene remain the only potent weapons of protecting oneself from contracting the infection.

(With inputs from IANS)