Dubai: Kane Williamson and Virat Kohli, two of the best cricket captains at the moment, go back a long way. The two first competed against each other in the 2008 Under-19 World Cup semi-finals and despite being like chalk-and-cheese in terms of personalities, share a deep mutual admiration.
It was during the lockdown when Kohli sent out an Instagram post with New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson which read: “Love our chats. Good man @kane_s_w.”
Speaking at a Star Sports show on Saturday, Williamson reflected on how his friendship with Kohli has developed in last few years. “Yes, we are fortunate to play against each other. It has been great to meet at a young age and follow his progress as well as his journey.
“It’s been interesting, we’ve had to play against each other for a long period of time. But actually, probably over the last few years we just shared our views on the game, some honest thoughts and found some common grounds and despite perhaps playing the game little bit differently in terms of physically and may be our on-field characters I suppose.”
The two are considered amongst the best in the business in the world at present and Kohli has time and again praised the Kiwi skipper.
Following Black Caps’ whitewash in the three-match Test series in Australia, Kohli stood by Williamson and said: “I don’t think leadership can always be determined by the results. It’s also about how you can get the team together and get the guys functioning under you as well, which I think Kane has done wonderfully well.
“He has the respect of his teammates and he has the trust of his teammates, is what I can see, and he’s also a very, very smart cricketer.”
