More than 11 years ago since they led their respective teams in the semi-final of the 2008 U19 World Cup at Kuala Lumpur, Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson will lock horns again as skippers in a game of an entirely different magnitude.
Old Trafford will be the theatre this time around with India and New Zealand set to go head-to-head in the first semi-final of the 2019 ICC World Cup on Tuesday.
On that particular occasion in 2008, it was Kohli and India who had triumphed by three wickets in a hard-fought encounter with the team ultimately going on to lift the trophy.
What’s more, Kohli had even managed to pick up the wicket of Williamson in the match and it is a fact he is keen to remind his New Zealand counterpart about when they take the field on Tuesday.
“I got Kane’s wicket? Did I? I don’t know if that can happen again. I’m sure he remembers and when we meet tomorrow, I’m going to remind him,” the India skipper stated on Monday.
Now more than a decade later, the two players have established themselves as ‘once in a generation’ talents for their respective countries and make up one-half of the ‘Fab Four’ that also includes Steve Smith and Joe Root.
11 years ago, #ViratKohli and #KaneWilliamson faced off in the ICC U19 World Cup semi-final in Malaysia.
— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) July 7, 2019
On Tuesday, they will lead India and New Zealand in the #CWC19 semi-final at Old Trafford!
Full circle 🙌 #TeamIndia | #BackTheBlackCaps pic.twitter.com/FakooHmfUY
The two skippers have more than played their parts in their respective side’s march to the semi-final with both of them shining with the bat in hand.
It is Williamson who is slightly ahead of Kohli at this stage with the Kiwi stalwart amassing 481 runs so far compared to the 442 runs registered by his India counterpart.
The New Zealand skipper is averaging more than 96 with the bat in the tournament and has time and time again dug his team out of several holes. Kiwi openers Martin Guptill and Colin Munro have been woefully out of form in the tournament which has meant that Williamson has had to arrive at the crease much earlier than expected.
Yet, the 28-year-old has been the ever-reliable hand that he is always has and has constantly doused out the fires with minimal fuss. Accounting for nearly 30 per cent of the team’s total runs in the tournament, Williamson has more than led from the front to drag an inconsistent side all the way to the semi-final.
Virat Kohli "Even in 2007 I knew that Kane Williamson had the special ability to go all the way" #CWC19 #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/wKR2Szhdtt
— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) July 8, 2019
The right-hander has already struck two tons in the competition and gave a masterclass in anchoring a difficult chase with his unbeaten 106 against South Africa.
Kohli, on the other hand, has not yet managed to breach three figures so far in the tournament but the India skipper has still managed to constantly churn up the runs at a handsome rate.
It speaks more about the 29-year-old’s genius with the bat that a run of five fifties on the trot is being seen as an underachievement but such are the lofty standards that the cricket world has become accustomed to expect from Kohli.
He has lived in the shadows of Rohit Sharma mostly with the opener creating history by registering five tons in a single World Cup edition. Not that the India superstar is complaining with the team now just two steps away from lifting a third world title.
Yet, Williamson of all people will know that Kohli’s is the prize wicket for his team on Tuesday. The sentiment will be very much the same on the Indian side with the Kiwi skipper’s wicket set to be the most crucial one.
The two gifted batsmen are very much the faces of their respective national teams which have been carved in their identity.
Two champion cricketers at the top of their games are set to lead out their respective sides in a game of immense magnitude at Manchester. For cricket neutrals from all over the world, it simply does not get better than this.
