Former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd expressed huge confidence in Virat Kohli's cricket prowess, saying India’s batting maestro can achieve significant milestones, including surpassing Sachin Tendulkar's record of 100 international centuries.
Lloyd, who was in Kolkata for an event, lauded Kohli's current form and specifically mentioned that Kohli, with 80 international centuries to his name, is young enough to surpass Tendulkar's world record and achieve any goal he sets his mind to.
Notably, Kohli had surpassed Tendulkar's world record of most tons in ODIs-49 during the recent ICC World Cup 2023. He became the first batter to achieve 50 ODI centuries during the tournament.
Clive Lloyd said during the event: “I do not know about the period, but he is young enough, and I am sure that the way he is playing he can achieve anything he wants to achieve, and it would be something to be quite happy to achieve.”
On the comparisons between Kohli and Viv Richards, Lloyd said, "Virat Kohli and Viv Richards are two different types of cricketers. So, there is no comparison. Virat will play cricket for a long time. He can achieve many things. He can also achieve the feat of Sachin Tendulkar. He has that capability and has time in his hand."
Lloyd highlighted the importance of T20 cricket, but stressed the need for a balanced cricket calendar, favoring Test cricket. He advocated for three and five-match Test series over two-match series while citing the recent South Africa versus India series.
The West Indies legend added, “At the moment probably they are having too many T20s and stuff. I would like to see a little bit more Test cricket. And if you are playing Test cricket, I would prefer three Test matches or five matches.”
Lloyd called T20 cricket an “exhibition” and described Test cricket as an “examination” while stressing the importance of the traditional format of the game.
He signed off by saying, “Our youngsters seem to be getting this habit of trying to hit the ball out of the ground so that they can get a contract somewhere else. And I do not like that.”
(With ANI Inputs)
