Our focus is on how best we can combat Virat: Williamson

Expressing his admiration for Virat Kohli, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson Tuesday said that they will be primarily focussed on how to "best combat" his Indian counterpart in the limited overs series, starting here Wednesday.

Returning the compliment, the Indian run-machine also lauded the prolific Williamson, calling him one of the best in the world.

Williamson said, "Someone like Virat is certainly a player I admire and enjoy watching and he's pushing the boundaries of the game so that's brilliant," said Williamson on the eve of first ODI of the five-match series.

He said Kohli was a passionate and world class cricketer.

"He's a respectful guy and I've known him for a very long time but as a player, obviously, word class and our focus is more about that and his cricketing ability and how we can combat him as best as we can," Williamson said.

Williamson felt that the passion with which Kohli approaches his cricket has made him a crowd puller around the world.

"He's always a challenge to come up against and is someone who is most admired in terms of how he goes about his cricket and he's formidable in his run scoring so he's definitely a player of note to try to shut down."
"He is always going to be a solid player for NZ purely because of what all he has done over the years in all three formats."