Australia opener David Warner on Wednesday (May 6) pointed out the similarities between himself and India skipper Virat Kohli.

WATCH: Bowl to Virat Kohli or face Jasprit Bumrah? Ellyse Perry reveals her choice

As a batsman, Warner and Kohli are among the most prolific in contemporary cricket. While the southpaw has 14,000+ international runs to his name with 43 centuries, the Indian captain has more than 20,000 runs across all three formats including 70 tons.

Speaking to Harsha Bhogle on Cricbuzz, Warner said he and Kohli are driven by passion whenever they are out on the field representing their nations.

“I can’t speak for Virat, obviously, but it’s almost like we got this thing in us when we go (out to the middle) we need to prove people wrong, prove someone wrong,” the left-hander quoted.

“If you’re in that contest, and if I’m going at him for example, you’re thinking, ‘Alright, I’m going to score more runs than him, I’m going to take a quick single on him’.

“You are trying to better that person in that game. That’s where the passion comes from,” he added.

The cricketing rivalry between India and Australia is undoubtedly one of the biggest in the world of sports. But within the big war, there are small battles which keep the fans on the edge of their seats.

Speaking about those small battles, Warner said: “Obviously you want to win the game but you almost break it down to: If I can score more runs than Virat, or if Pujara scores more runs than Steve Smith, you have these little contests and that’s how you try to narrow the game in the sense that if we do these little things, we can be ahead of the game or we can be behind the game.”

“The passion is driven by...I know my sense - one, the will to win and two, wanting to do better than that person in the opposition,” he further remarked.