Junaid Khan cherishes every Virat Kohli dismissal of his, recalls brief but interesting rivalry

Former Pakistan seamer Junaid Khan recalled playing against India great Virat Kohli. While Junaid expressed his utmost respect for the batter and cricketer that Kohli has emerged, the left-handed pacer still cherishes every time he dismissed Kohli in limited meetings, adding people haven’t forgotten that either.

“I have taken wickets of so many batsmen, but people always remember Virat Kohli’s wicket,” Junaid said on Nadir Shah’s podcast.

During India-Pakistan's last bilateral series in 2012/13, Junaid dismissed Virat on all three occasions. 

In the first ODI in Chennai, where he cleaned up his off-stump, Junaid picked Kohli caught behind in the second ODI in Kolkata. Their premier pacer back then, Junaid, recalled an instance of warning Kohli ahead of the final ODI in Delhi, where also he got rid of him.

“We have played in the U-19 World Cup; we knew each other. It was my comeback series, and I was playing against India for the first time. I got Kohli in the first match, and he told me it would not happen again. I got him again in the second and third match." 

"Before the third ODI at the breakfast table, I told him ‘Virat you will not be spared today.’ Younis Khan was also there. He said get him out again today. Younis bhai took Virat’s catch,” Junaid revealed during the discussion.

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Around 11 years later, Virat has stamped his authority as the greatest batter of the modern-day game, going past legendary Sachin Tendulkar’s 50 ODI centuries tally during the recently-concluded World Cup. 

Speaking highly of the India great, Junaid said, “Virat Kohli is still among the top five batsmen in the World. Especially in the white-ball, the way he has made records and has recently broken Sachin Tendulkar’s century record. He is a world-class batsman.” 

Rohit is better than both – Junaid 

When asked about his opinion on the best Indian batter of the two – Sachin or Virat, Junaid named current captain Rohit Sharma, saying the veteran star has more shots in his kitty than Kohli and Sachin.

“In my opinion, Rohit Sharma is a better batsman than Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli,” Junaid said.

Junaid added because Rohit has more double hundreds in ODIs in comparison to others and is also the batter with the most sixes in the One-Dayers, he is ahead of the two.

“Everybody calls Rohit ‘The Hitman.’ He has scored an incredible 264. He has also smashed a couple of double-hundreds in the ODIs. This is rare because he has done it more than once. He has also hit the most number of sixes. That’s why I would vote for Rohit,” Junaid added.