New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson on Wednesday (February 3) expressed his admiration for contemporaries Virat Kohli, Joe Root and Steve Smith, terming them as "world class".
In an exclusive interview with Sports Today, Williamson, who currently holds the No. 1 position in ICC Test batting rankings, also added that there is always something to learn from the great trio.
"The other three players that you mentioned, world class and I certainly admire the way they go about their cricket. You can always learn a lot from those sorts of players, especially they are all different, that's the kind of beauty of the game, you got so many fantastic players that are trying to move the game forward," Williamson said.
Kane Williamson has been in fine form lately, recording scores 251, 129 21 and 238 in his last three Tests. As a result, he replaced Smith from the top spot in the ICC rankings for Test batsmen last month.
For the Kiwi captain, however, personal milestones don’t matter.
"In terms of those rankings they are not my focus, I know how fickle that can be, much like perhaps Test rankings of the team and opportunity to play the finals (ICC Test Championship), we sit here now, perhaps we have the ranking but they can change so quickly from other teams, the cricket they play. Try to contribute to the team you are playing for and I think that's the main thing.
"It has been a really enjoyable Test summer for our side, you always want more Test cricket, they came thick and fast few months ago but now it's turning the white-ball mode and we have got some T20Is coming up, some one-dayers as well to the IPL. Yeah, it great to see the team play the we managed to but there are always things to improve on and that's an important focus for us," Williamson said.
Notably, the Kane Williamson-led New Zealand team have qualified for the World Test Championship final with 70 percentage points after Australia decided to indefinitely postpone their away series against South Africa due to COVID-19 pandemic.
