NEW DELHI: India and Pakistan may have one of the fiercest rivalries on the field, but off the field, players have always shown immense respect for each other over the years.
From Imran Khan asking his players to watch Sunil Gavaskar play and learn from him, to Inzamam-ul-Haq introducing his son to Sachin Tendulkar as his fan, there are countless stories of the camaraderie between the cricketers of both the countries.
Now ahead of the mega clash between the archrivals on Sunday, former Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez hailed praise on former India captain and star batter Virat Kohli not only for his batting but also his fitness.
Hafeez shared a video on his X handle where he is saying on a talk show in Pakistan: “Let me say a small thing about Virat. He has not just set his standards in batting, he has set his standards for his fitness also, and because of that his transformation looks very easy to us. He is so fit that no matter how much pressure is put on him, he absorbs it. Look back ten years and tell me any player who is fitter than Virat. Not only in India, but in the whole world he will be No. 1 because of his fitness.”
“The way he has transformed himself and this we need to understand that why someone doesn’t drop his standard. He can also say that I have been playing cricket for 15 years, how does it matter if my YoYo test score comes 16 instead of 17. My fat level goes to 100 from 60 how will it matter as I have hit 70 centuries, but no, he still thinks that I have to play this game as one of the best athletes and I have to leave that legacy that no one has left. This is the standard that why Virat Kohli is considered an icon in international cricket and the whole world,” Hafeez concludes.
From Imran Khan asking his players to watch Sunil Gavaskar play and learn from him, to Inzamam-ul-Haq introducing his son to Sachin Tendulkar as his fan, there are countless stories of the camaraderie between the cricketers of both the countries.
Now ahead of the mega clash between the archrivals on Sunday, former Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez hailed praise on former India captain and star batter Virat Kohli not only for his batting but also his fitness.
Hafeez shared a video on his X handle where he is saying on a talk show in Pakistan: “Let me say a small thing about Virat. He has not just set his standards in batting, he has set his standards for his fitness also, and because of that his transformation looks very easy to us. He is so fit that no matter how much pressure is put on him, he absorbs it. Look back ten years and tell me any player who is fitter than Virat. Not only in India, but in the whole world he will be No. 1 because of his fitness.”
“The way he has transformed himself and this we need to understand that why someone doesn’t drop his standard. He can also say that I have been playing cricket for 15 years, how does it matter if my YoYo test score comes 16 instead of 17. My fat level goes to 100 from 60 how will it matter as I have hit 70 centuries, but no, he still thinks that I have to play this game as one of the best athletes and I have to leave that legacy that no one has left. This is the standard that why Virat Kohli is considered an icon in international cricket and the whole world,” Hafeez concludes.
With 4038 runs, Virat Kohli is the highest run-scorer in T20I cricket.
In 10 T20Is against Pakistan, Virat has scored 488 runs at a strike rate of 123.85 and an average of 81.33, with a highest score of an unbeaten 82 that came in the last edition of the T20 World Cup at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) where he fashioned a memorable victory for India.