IPL: There May Be No One Like Virat Kohli At The Moment, Says Kane Williamson

New Zealand skipper and Sunrisers Hyderabad star batsman Kane Williamson heaped praise on India's run-machine Virat Kohli, saying he admired the Royal Challengers Bangalore captain a lot and that there may not be any player like him at the moment.

India Test skipper Kohli has been in the form of his life over the past couple of months for his national side as well as his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, RCB.

After winning the man of the tournament award in the recent World Twenty20, the Delhi-born batsman has smashed three centuries in the ongoing ninth edition of the cash-rich IPL and is the leading scorer with 677 runs.

After bringing up his maiden T20 ton against Gujarat Lions, he followed it up with a second against Rising Pune Supergiants. The 27-year-old blasted 109 runs off just 55 balls against Gujarat on Saturday to record his third century.

"He (Kohli) is a great player. He is a player certainly whom I admire a lot, obviously like a lot of others do. It is his ability in T20 cricket and other formats and how he adapts from one format to the other all round the world is an incredible thing," Williamson told IANS in an exclusive interview.

"Consistent as he is in T20 cricket, there may be no other player like him at the moment, but, well, there is David Warner who is also able to do that; it is also about keeping the benchmark for other players to strive to," he added.

The 25-year-old, who led the Kiwis to the semifinal stage in the World T20, is known to be a calm and composed skipper. When asked to comment on Kohli's aggressive nature on the field, he said, "I think he is comfortable the way he is, and plays the game his way."

Williamson also lauded IPL teammate and India's veteran batsman Yuvraj Singh, after the latter returned to the side with some good scores following his ankle injury, which he sustained at the World T20.

"Yuvraj has been great. It is always nice to have him in the team and part of the squad. His contribution within the team has been exceptional, also to mention his batting ability. Certainly when he has got the opportunity he has gone out and played to the team's plan and played very well," he said.

The Tauranga-born batsman, who has been in great form over the past year for New Zealand in all formats will take over the Test captaincy from compatriot and batting legend Brendon McCullum and will lead his country in all formats of the game. He viewed this as a big challenge ahead of him.

"It is a privilege and an honour to have the opportunity to lead the country in all three formats. The team was led by Brendon for a couple of years now and now we have to take the team forward. But there are a lot of challenges ahead," he said.