The Week India – July 21, 2019

JULY 21, 2019 • THE WEEK 45

of winning the toss and batting first in these over-

cast conditions, knowing that the whole team plays

around him. You must give him credit for that.”

Former New Zealand coach Mike Hesson

said on the Star Sports show Game Plan: “Kane

Williamson is a very consistent character, his

personality is about just doing the same thing

over and over again. So I guess when you are so

particular on how you prepare and play, you can

get consistency in performance. The big difference

is he soaked up pressure in this World Cup, and

because of that he can now get 60s and 70s, and

The two captains, along with Joe Root of England
and Steve Smith of Australia, form the golden quar-
tet of batsmen of this generation. Little separates
them in terms of Test averages, but in ODIs, Kohli
has raced ahead. Compared with his 41 centuries,
Williamson, Root and Smith have 13, 16 and eight
respectively.
But it was in Kohli’s format that Williamson out-
shone him at Old Trafford. “I think he is one of the
finest players right now; outstanding,” former Indi-
an captain Kapil Dev told THE WEEK. “What stands
out is his calmness. He put himself in that position

MUTUAL RESPECT

Kohli and Williamson after

the semi-final in Manchester

REUTERS