Virat Kohli has kept up his good run of form off late and has been in the form of his life. Having cracked a century in the very first ODI of the series, Kohli followed it up with his 34th ODI in Cape Town. India won the match by 124 runs and took an unassailable lead in the series.
Congratulating Virat Kohli on his 34th ODI ton, the former Pakistan skipper has hailed him as a "genius who is the best batsman in the world".
In an interview to Pakpassion.net, Miandad singled out Kohli's technical prowess and ability to rescue India from difficult situations and steer them to victories as the hallmark of a "great" batsman.
"In Virat Kohli's case his batting method is what allows him to score runs not just once but almost every time he comes in to bat. If a batsman's technique is bad, he can put some runs on the board once in a while, but he will not be able to do that consistently which is exactly true in Kohli's case. To me, the mark of a great batsman, like Kohli is the fact that he can vary his technique by quickly understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the bowlers. Kohli is a genius who is the best batsman in the world," said Miandad.
Miandad also took the opportunity to wish the victorious Indian U19 team after their world cup win with a special mention on their coach Rahul Dravid. India U-19s were unbeaten all tournament, and in the semi-finals decimated Pakistan U-19s by 203 runs. Just two Pakistan players made it to double-digits as the innings folded for just 69 in 29.3 overs.
"The loss to India in the ICC Under-19 World Cup was by a big margin of 203 runs which is hard to take but if truth be told, our team was lucky to have progressed that far given the inexperience of our players. Of course, victory and defeat are part of any sport, but we need to accept that there was a huge difference in terms of skills between both teams. India is a huge country with a bigger population than Pakistan, yet our players are able to challenge India in cricket which tells me that we have the potential, but we simply do not have the system that can support and get the best out of that potential," said the 60-year-old.
He next highlighted the various problems in the administration and structure of Pakistan cricket which is degrading the progress of the sport in the country off late.
"From the lack of good training facilities to sub-standard wickets, the problems that our youngsters face in playing cricket are just indescribable. We have children starting to play cricket in side streets instead of learning their game in proper grounds. When people understand how our kids learn their cricket, then they will understand the reason for our current cricketing issues. I am sorry, but the present-day authorities due to their unprofessional behaviour have destroyed the system that used to produce teams which could beat the top teams of the world like the West Indies at a time when they were unbeatable."
Miandad concluded his session by highlighting the importance of having a coach like Rahul Dravid to mentor young cricketers. Miandad finelined the contribution of Dravid in India's World Cup-winning campaign.
"Having a coach like Rahul Dravid sounds very exciting but I have never been a great supporter of big name coaches at such a level. At this level, it more about guidance than someone teaching you the basics of the game as that should have been done at the earlier stages of a player's development," concluded Miandad.
