Marvan Atapattu: Virat Kohli is the best in world cricket today

Marvan Atapattu: Virat Kohli is the best in world cricket today

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Marvan Atapattu has honored the Indian team led by Virat Kohli by calling it the best, not just in the subcontinent, but in the world cricket right now. He also called Kohli the best batsman in the world and voiced his disappointment in Sri Lankan's performance in the recently concluded tour.

Virat Kohli and the team have been winning back to back on foreign soil, West Indies and Sri Lanka, in recent times. The squad thrashed the Sri Lankan team first in the Test series with a 3-0 clean sweep, followed by a 5-0 whitewash in the ODIs.

Former Sri Lankan skipper Marvan Atapattu commended the Indian team's incredible performance in all the formats of the game and went as far as to call them the best in the cricket world. He also opened up about his disappointment due to unsatisfactory performance of the Sri Lankan team, who lost nine straight games against India in a span of two months.   

“Now India is the best not only in the sub continent but outside too. Sri Lanka, unfortunately, has been having problems. I will stay away from using the word transition because that has been going on for too long for my liking. When you look at the players and the group, obviously you feel that they lack self-confidence,” Atapattu said in an interview with International Business Times.

When asked whether Virat Kohli was the best batsman in the world and if he can break Sachin Tendulkar's record, the former skipper said that it would depend on how he deals with the lows, but he was quick to add that the Indian captain would not face such situations many times during his career.

“Virat is batting as well as anybody I have seen in my career. If he continues to bat this way, obviously it doesn’t have to come from me, he will go past everybody. But in reality, cricket won’t stay the same. There will be both good and bad times. The important thing is how he comes out of bad times when he gets into. It happened to him in England but he came out of it. But it (bad form) won’t happen to him too many times. Certainly, he is the best in world cricket today,” Atapattu said.

Atapattu is all set to mentor Karnataka Premier League side Belagavi Panthers and considers it as an opportunity to share his experience with the young players.

“I am here as a team mentor for the Panthers. I am very pleased and privileged to work with this young and enthusiastic group. KPL is a great opportunity for players to showcase their talent and move to the next level, the IPL and further. The amount of T20 cricket played around the world these days, these guys could be picked elsewhere too. It is a great opportunity not only for the players but also to me to share my experience and give them much needed boost and morale,” he said.

The former Sri Lankan opener clarified that he was not intrested in coaching the Sri Lankan or any other international team since he wanted to spend more time with his family now. 

"I have devoted a lot of my time for cricket, out of the 46 years that I have lived, and I have devoted very little time to my family. So I have now decided that any full-time coaching is ruled out. I have started enjoying life with my family with wife and two daughters. Certainly, I won't coach Sri Lanka again simply because I had been with them for four years at different capacities. Almost 70 per cent of players who are representing Sri Lanka now has gone through me in coaching. I have shared my knowledge. Long term coaching is out for me and any short term stints I am open to taking up. I will see what contributions I can make,” the former skipper said.

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