Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir reacted to India captain’s ‘surprise’ at being awarded the ICC Spirit of Cricket accolade on Wednesday. In response to a video of Kohli’s reaction at receiving the honour, Amir took to Twitter and replied: ‘Great words from great player’.
Amir has had a fierce rivalry with Kohli with the duo engaging in a number of intense battles on the field whenever they have come up against each other. Whether it was Amir’s testing spell to Kohli during the Asia Cup 2016 or his amazing over to the India captain in the final of the Champions Trophy 2017, the image of Amir vs Kohli always makes one sit up and take notice. However, being fierce rivals on the field hasn’t diminished the respect they share for each other off it. The same was witnessed in Amir’s praise for Kohli on Wednesday.
In his reaction speech after being bestowed with the Spitit of Cricket award, Kohli admitted to being surprised after “years of being under the scanner for the wrong things”, referring to his past flare-ups.
He won the award for his gesture at the 2019 World Cup, when he egged the crowd on to support and not boo Steve Smith soon after his return to international cricket from a one-year suspension for ball-tampering.
From once stopping short of calling his Australian rival a cheat to urging the crowd to back him, it has been an incredible turnaround for Kohli, one of the world’s best batsmen alongside Smith.
