New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and Indian cricket team skipper Virat Kohli are not only a couple of the best batsmen in world cricket across formats, but they are also good mates on and off the field.
Their mutual respect and camaraderie was visible during the recently concluded World Test Championship (WTC) final between India and New Zealand at Southampton.
In what was one of the lighter moments in the WTC final, Kohli and Williamson were seen embracing each other after the latter anchored his side to victory over India. The Kohli-Williamson heartwarming gesture also went viral on several social media platforms.
"It was a great moment, you know, toe to toe, and obviously, Virat and I have known each other for a long time and we are mates. It's always a great part of sports as you get the opportunity to meet people all around the world and form different friendships," Williamson told India Today about the gesture.
"Different experiences that you have either together or against each other. And often you find a bit of common ground and share a few common interests and that’s quite special," the New Zealand skipper added.
Interestingly, the two batting maestros Kohli and Williamson have known each other since their Under-19 days, when they were trying to break into their respective senior teams.
Currently, Kohli has scored more than 22,000 runs in international cricket across formats. The Indian captain has also slammed 70 hundreds in his career thus far. On the other hand, Kiwi skipper Williamson has more than 15,000 runs to his credit at the international level, including 37 centuries.
While Kohli will lead India in the upcoming five-match Test series against England in the United Kingdom (UK), Williamson and New Zealand don’t have any immediate international assignments.
Featured photo : Glyn Kirk / AFP
