Kohli has always been a great player whether he scores big hundreds or not: Stuart Binny

Navi Mumbai, Feb 24 (IANS) Former India all-rounder Stuart Binny heaped praises on star batter Virat Kohli, who scored an unbeaten century against Pakistan to guide the side to six-wicket in Champions Trophy on Sunday, saying the former has always been a "great player" irrespective of him scoring hundreds or not.   
 

Kohli, who was criticised for his lean form in Test cricket, once again proved his mettle at the biggest stage and came out as a cynosure for Men in Blue in the blockbuster clash in Dubai.

"I think whenever whenever Virat Kohli scores runs, everyone praises him. But he's always been a great player, whether he's got that big hundreds or not. He's always been a team man and he's always kept India going. So I enjoy watching him back to when I played with him and even now on television. I think it's always special to win against Pakistan, especially in an ICC event," Binny told reporters on the sidelines of the International Masters League.

"But having said that, he's still got a game to go. Predictions are obviously it's going to be tough. Conditions are going to be going to be crucial over there. But I think, as you said, we've got Kohli, we've got Jadeja, we've got Axar as well. So I think our bowling suits those conditions and obviously top-class batting," he added.

On playing with his former teammates and legends of the game including Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh, Binny said friendships are there but playing for the country is his number one priority.

"I think that's that's the main thing. Our friendships have never been forgotten. I think we all stayed friends after cricket as well. Everyone had different stages in their lives, which they had to attend to. But as I said, coming back to playing for your country, that was number one for us to represent the country. Not too many people get the chance after they retire. But here we are playing for our country again and strengthening our friendships again.

"It's very special to play with Sachin Sir again, obviously, with Yuvraj paji. But I think the most special thing for me is I'm back with my three two Karnataka teammates Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun. I think the three of us played for Karnataka over 10 years and we had a lot of success together and it's nice to be playing now for the Indian Masters with the two Karnataka boys," he added.

India Masters beat Sri Lanka by four runs in a high-scoring thriller to kick off their campaign in style at the DY Patil Stadium here on Saturday.

Ahead of taking England Masters on Tuesday, Binny said, "We had two days off. So yesterday was a complete rest day. People just recovered, went to the swimming pool, just stretching and stuff. Today, we had practice again. The whole team is here again, practising hard. We're going to take one game at a time."

The former cricketer acknowledged that keeping up with the fitness is the most difficult for them in the tournament.

"I think that's the one that's the most difficult. I think after you retire, you don't tend to practise and work out as much as when you're playing for India or domestic cricket. But I think it is the will to play cricket. I think it just comes from inside. I think all of us have worked hard on our fitness in the last six months. Some of the guys play more than 10 tournaments in the year. So they keep themselves busy. As I said, if you want to play cricket, you need to work out. So there's no excuse," Binny signed off.