From Sachin Tendulkar to Brian Lara, greats of the game were united in their admiration for Virat Kohli, calling him “unbelievable” and “special” for single-handedly guiding India to the ICC World Twenty20 semi- finals.
Tendulkar led the effusive praise for Kohli, terming his unbeaten 82-run innings last night as a “special” one.
“Woooow @imVkohli ...special it was... Great win, fighting all the way! #IndvsAus,” Tendulkar tweeted.
Australian spin legend Shane Warne, while commenting on Tendulkar’s praise for Kohli, said, “ Great knock by @imVkohli Reminded me of one of your many special innings buddy !!!!!”
Another batting legend Lara said Kohli was an “unbelievable” batsman.
“Anyway can anyone send me videos of @imVkohli as a teenager batting #unreal best timer of a cricket ball I hv seen,” the West Indian great wrote on his twitter handle.
“He is just an unbelievable batsman! No need to say anymore.”
Kohli’s team-mates Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Shikhar Dhawan also praised Kohli for his batsmanship and match-winning abilities.
“Well what can I say ! There are players who r in form and there is @imVkohli who wins you games again and again ! Hats of you beauty,” Yuvraj tweeted.
Harbhajan added: “JEO KOHLI JEO MERA SHER.What an inn??????what a champion player u r my lil brother @imVkohli @BCCI ??????swad aa Gaya yara drallo drallllll?????????”
“Hats off to Virat’s great knock!! Lots of learning from him!!??????,” Dhawan tweeted.
Former Pakistan off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq was also full of praise for Kohli.
“Great performance by India and a great innings by @imVkohli,” he tweeted.
BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur tweeted: “Great effort @imVkohli. You’ve shown a great temperament. All the best Team India for semis. @BCCI.”
Australian cricketers Glenn Maxwell and just-retired Shane Watson, who witnessed Kohli’s brilliance from close quarters on Sunday, said they were beaten by a cricketing genius.
“Well... That innings was a different level...Not a lot more to say really...Absolutely shattered. Beaten by 1 cricketing genius. #toogood,” Maxwell wrote.
Watson added: “@imVkohli What an absolute pleasure to witness that tonight. INCREDIBLE. Can’t wait to finally be on the same team @RCBTweets. #waytoogood.” Former India captain Anil Kumble tweeted, “Genius @imVkohli! What a knock! #IndvsAus #WT20.”
Indian off-spinner R Ashwin compared Kohli’s knock to the memorable innings by Tendulkar in Sharjah.
“Sandstorm from sachin at Sharjah,and the hailstorm in Mohali from @imVkohli should be written in the same paragraph,” he tweeted.
Former Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson, who had stirred up a debate by saying that Kohli does not perform in big matches, chose the occasion to applaud the India’s genius. “Well to be fair, he definitely stepped it up for this T 20 World Cup. Too good in the end ???? “ Applause also trickled in from other former cricketers such as ex South African opener Herschelle Gibbs.
“Just saw some of @imVkohli innings tonight,special! nice to see someone who enjoys the big stage and the big moments??”
“And once again @imVkohli and @msdhoni show how it’s done! Congratulations,” added former India pacer R P Singh.