Mumbai:New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has opened up on his camaraderie and friendship with Virat Kohli and called himself ‘fortunate’ to have played the game alongside the India captain.
Williamson said that it was ‘great’ to meet Kohli at a young age and he has been closely following his Indian counterpart’s journey from a young age. Kohli and Williamson led their respective teams at the 2008 U-19 World Cup in Malaysia, which was won by India and since then both have become modern day greats of the game. ”Yes, we are fortunate to play against each other. It has been great to meet at a young age and follow his (Kohli’s) progress as well as his journey,” Williamson said on Star Sports show ‘Cricket Connected’. Infact, Kohli led India beat Williamson’s New Zealand in a close semifinal of the 2008 U19 World Cup, which also featured players like Ravindra Jadeja, Trent Boult and Tim Southee. Shreevats Goswami (51), Williamson’s teammate at Sunrisers Hyderabad, was the highest run-scorer in that match.
Later, India U-19 team won the trophy after a thrilling win over South Africa in the final. Further, Williamson also revealed the time when his friendship with Kohli blossomed, saying that he and Kohli have shared honest opinions about the game over the last few years.
”It’s been interesting, we’ve had to play against each other for a long period of time,” he said. ”But actually, probably over the last few years we just shared our views on the game, some honest thoughts and found some common grounds despite, perhaps, playing the game little bit differently in terms of physically and may be our on-field characters I suppose,” added Williamson. A couple of weeks back, Kohli had also shared a special Instagram post featuring Williamson. “Love our chats. Good man,” he had written. Both of them are part of the Fab Four, which also includes Steve Smith and Joe Root.Williamson is currently the captain of the New Zealand national team in all formats.
He made his first-class cricket debut in December 2007.
He made his U-19 debut against the touring Indian U-19 team the same year and was named captain of the New Zealand U-19 team for the 2008 U-19 Cricket World Cup.
He made his international debut in 2010. Williamson has represented New Zealand at the 2011, 2015 and 2019 editions of the Cricket World Cup and 2012, 2014 and 2016 editions of the ICC World Twenty20.
He made his full-time captaincy debut for New Zealand in the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 in India. He captained New Zealand national team in 2019 Cricket World Cup and led the team to the finals. He was then awarded the Player of the Tournament award. (UNI)
