'One of the greatest, if not the greatest': Ian Bishop on Virat Kohli's legacy

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Former West Indies cricketer Ian Bishop hailed Virat Kohli’s hunger for runs after the Indian superstar guided his team to yet another successful run-chase. Kohli smashed an unbeaten 139 runs as India took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Speaking after the game on JioHotstar, Bishop praised Kohli’s consistency in the ODI format, admitting that people will appreciate the 38-year-old more when he retires from the ODI format.

“You have to love what you do to evolve as he has done over such a long period of time. I think this puts him in a rarefied atmosphere, given that he has achieved 15,000 runs in 74 fewer innings than the great Sachin Tendulkar, whom I hold in high regard, having played against him. Where his legacy will end, he certainly has to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, batter in this format of the game. A lot of these fans watching on television and here in the ground appreciate it, but I don’t think we will fully appreciate it until some time after he concludes his playing days.” Bishop said.

Bishop further praised Virat Kohli‘s chasing awareness after the former Indian captain guided his team to yet another successful run chase.

“Virat is different in that respect, the appetite that he has for runs, his calculation of how to chase a total, I think that is unsurpassed in this game. Virat has a sense of occasion that he may not confess to, but again, that’s his evolution. I still can’t believe 15,000… I know Sachin got there, but that’s a heck of a lot of runs,” he added.

Ian Bishop on what young players could learn from Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli smashed nine sixes during his innings, his most ever in an ODI, as he destroyed the West Indies bowling attack. Bishop was impressed by Kohli’s eagerness to keep learning despite dominating for so long.

“It’s something that we’re all very aware of, because I have grown tired of hearing players say, ‘This is the way I play,’ and people outside the game saying, ‘When you reach a certain age, you can’t learn new tricks.’ If I were to take one thing away from what Virat Kohli has been doing over the years, it’s that he’s saying it’s never too late to evolve his attacking game, to adapt to how T20 or white-ball cricket has moved, to develop his power game and hit the number of sixes that he has tonight at his age.” Bishop concluded.

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