Kane Williamson , New Zealand's premier batter, has praised Virat Kohli as cricket 's greatest all-format player in the past 15 years. He acknowledged Kohli's ability to handle the intense pressure of being a cricketer in India.
The modern era of cricket saw the emergence of the " Fab Four ": Kohli, Williamson , Steve Smith, and Joe Root. These batters dominated all formats for over a decade. Currently, Kohli has stepped back from Test and T20Is , while Smith has ended his ODI career.
Root and Williamson have reduced their participation in T20 internationals in recent times.
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"Virat is probably the greatest all-format player we have seen for probably in the last 15 years, and (he) has his own challenges. In an absolutely cricket-obsessed country, he has been at the top of that tree," Williamson told Sky Sports.
"Look, there are great sorts of relationships and friendships with all of them in slightly different ways and we have stayed in touch in a lot of ways as well. But, (there is) not really that sort of competitive thing. I think you are just in teams and willing to compete for those teams."
Williamson, who is playing domestic cricket for Middlesex in England, mentioned meeting Kohli, who lives in London with his family: "Yes, we did (meet). It was quite funny, just a full circle, and that's the other part of it. (We have) not just played cricket but lived our lives in some sort of parallel way for a huge percentage of our lives, whether that's having kids at similar times or experiencing different things as you get older. So you do connect on different levels."
The modern era of cricket saw the emergence of the " Fab Four ": Kohli, Williamson , Steve Smith, and Joe Root. These batters dominated all formats for over a decade. Currently, Kohli has stepped back from Test and T20Is , while Smith has ended his ODI career.
Root and Williamson have reduced their participation in T20 internationals in recent times.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel.
"Virat is probably the greatest all-format player we have seen for probably in the last 15 years, and (he) has his own challenges. In an absolutely cricket-obsessed country, he has been at the top of that tree," Williamson told Sky Sports.
"Probably the greatest all-format player we've seen for the last 15 years" 🙌
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 12, 2025
Kane Williamson 🤝 Virat Kohli pic.twitter.com/9CyX5InmVt
"Look, there are great sorts of relationships and friendships with all of them in slightly different ways and we have stayed in touch in a lot of ways as well. But, (there is) not really that sort of competitive thing. I think you are just in teams and willing to compete for those teams."
Williamson, who is playing domestic cricket for Middlesex in England, mentioned meeting Kohli, who lives in London with his family: "Yes, we did (meet). It was quite funny, just a full circle, and that's the other part of it. (We have) not just played cricket but lived our lives in some sort of parallel way for a huge percentage of our lives, whether that's having kids at similar times or experiencing different things as you get older. So you do connect on different levels."
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