Mohammad Amir talks about his 'bond' and friendship with Virat Kohli

Add as a preferred source on Google

Bengaluru, July 31: Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir has spoken about the "bond" and friendship he shares with Indian captain and "word's best batsman" Virat Kohli.

Last year, Kohli had praised Amir describing him as a "world-class bowler". The skipper had expressed happiness that the 25-year-old left-armer was back to playing after serving a 5-year ban for spot-fixing.

During the ICC World Twenty20 2016 in India, Kohli had gifted a bat to Amir. Also last month, during the Champions Trophy, he did the same.

"Happy to see Aamir playing. He accepted his mistake. He played in New Zealand. He is a world-class (bowler). If he had played in the last 5 years he would have been among world's top 3. He has lot of skills as a bowler," Kohli had said.

"He is a very good bowler. He has a lot of talent, has got pace, bounce a very good yorker. I wish him all the best. He has worked hard to make a comeback and it takes courage to do what he did," he added.

In an interview to "Sky Sports", Amir said he enjoys his friendship with the Delhi batsman an they have mutual respect.

"He's (Kohli) a big name and he is currently the best batsman in the world. Whenever we meet we always greet each other with respect. There is a bond and a friendship between us, a mutual respect and we are always pleased to see each other," Amir said.

"He has given me a cricket bat as a gift on a couple of occasions, the most recent being at the Champions Trophy match (on June 4) in Birmingham. I think this sort of bond and friendship should be prevalent amongst all sportsmen of all nations. We are role models and we can bridge differences and bring people closer together," he added.

In the Champions Trophy final at The Oval in London, last month, Amir had dismissed Kohli. He had also got the wickets of openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan in the title-deciding contest. Pakistan won the match by 180 runs.

OneIndia News