Pak greats hail 'great superstar' Kohli
Pakistan may not have faced the Indian cricketing great Virat Kohi in any Test match, but praise was showered on him by former greats including Wasim Akram, Ramiz Raja and Rashid Latif to hail the Indian maestro's contributions in the longer format of the game.
Kohli announced retirement from Test cricket on Monday, ending a glorious 123-Test career spanned over 14 years. His tally includes 68 of them as captain, winning 40 of them – the most by any Indian captain.
Kohli scored 9230 runs at an average of 46.85 with 29 hundreds.
Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram hailed Kohli as one of the modern-day greats.
"I have been commentating on the game for the last 21 years and since this time I have not seen a player who has impacted the game of Test cricket more than Virat Kohli," Wasim told Telecomasia.net.
"Kohli told the younger players the value of Test cricket, emphasizing that Test cricket is the ultimate. He was a horse for the long race and his fitness, enthusiasm and will to win was outstanding.
"He is the best chaser in white-ball cricket and once he leaves the ODI format he will leave as the modern day great. He has written his place in the history books with golden words," said Wasim.
Another former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja regretted that Kohli never played against Pakistan. The last Test between the archrivals was in 2007, a year before Kohli's international debut and four years from his first Test.
"It's a pity that he never played against Pakistan because Kohli would have revved up the emotions like nobody's business! The guy leaves with an unparalleled legacy," said Raja, also a former Pakistan Cricket Board chairman.
Another former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif praised Kohli as the "best."
"Kohli was inspirational," said Latif. "He will be remembered as a great player although his record in white-ball cricket is superior. He never played a Test against Pakistan which is a great vacuum in not only his Test career but also in this format of the game."
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