Virat Kohli Credits Sachin Tendulkar For His Development As a Batsman

Virat Kohli believes Sachin Tendulkar's advice to him during the early stage of his cricketing career helped him immensely to develop as a player. (Virat Kohli Rested For Twenty20 Series Against Sri Lanka)

The 27-year-old, who became the number one Twenty20 batsman in the International Cricket Council's (ICC) latest rankings, was in stupendous form during the series against Australia. India thrashed Australia 3-0 to become the number one ranked team in Twenty20s. (Virat Kohli Replaces Aaron Finch As World No. 1 Batsman in Twenty20s)

Kohli hit scores of 90 not out, 59 not out and 50 in the series to gain 47 ratings points and move ahead of Australia's Aaron Finch.

"I started playing cricket because of him (Tendulkar). I was inspired to do things he did for the country. I always visualise myself in those situations. I was lucky enough to be in the same dressing room when I started my career. He really helped me with the little things that I could improve in my game," Kohli was quoted as saying by Cricket Australia's website on Monday.

"If he saw something, he would come up to me himself and tell the areas I need to work on, which is quite rare. People of his stature won't always do that. It always gave me confidence and I got chance to bat with him and have big partnerships. That was the most special thing I could have asked for," the swashbuckling batsman said.

Speaking about the ODI series which India lost 1-4 and the successful Twenty20 series, Kohli said, "It has been a hectic and busy tour for us, but I love coming to Australia and performing here. People are amazing here and I love to deliver in front of them."

"It was sad to lose the series but obviously Australia played much better than us. I don't think we played badly in the ODI series, I think it was important to capitalise in those moments which Australia were good at. Our bowling was also a bit inexperienced as well. In the T20s we have experienced players compared to Australia and we have capitalised more on that," he said.

Kohli, who is the skipper of Indian Premier League (IPL) side Royal Challengers Bangalore, praised the cash rich tournament as a great platform for the young players to mix with international stars, adding that the league helped him know Australia speedster Mitchell Starc personally.

"IPL is a great platform for young players to play with international stars. We all get to know all international players very well. If I would not have played with Starc, I would not have known how good a human being he is. IPL helps one lift the boundaries with other foreign players and mix with others as well," Kohli concluded.