Mohammad Amir says Virat has shown why he's 'King Kohli', finds it 'easy' to bowl to Rohit

The India vs Pakistan rivalry is considered among the fiercest in cricket and the matches are often touted as a battle between the former’s batsmen versus the latter’s bowlers. After the face-off of Sachin Tendulkar with the likes of Wasim Akram, similar duels were witnessed when current cricketers like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma faced off with Mohammad Amir. The Pakistan speedster opened up on his rivalry with the two stars of Indian cricket and stated that he enjoyed bowling to them.

Mohammad Amir on rivalry with Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma

Amir opened up on bowling against Kohli in an interview with Cricwick, sharing that he had enjoyed bowling in pressure situations and to the best batsmen. He stated that the Indian Captain had proven himself in all formats and that his performances spoke for itself. The 29-year-old stated that he was deserving of the tag ‘King Kohli’, while highlighting his ability to win pressure situations.

The Pak bowler, however, stated that he loved bowling to Kohli, and that he was immensely satisfied on people relishing the idea of their face-off.

One of Amir’s memorable spells against India was in the Champions Trophy final in 2017, where scalped Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma, leaving India tottering at 33/3 and eventually failing to chase down the target of 333. However, Rohit and Virat played well against him, with the former scoring 140 and the latter making 77 as India beat Pakistan in the 2019 World Cup.

On Rohit Sharma, Amir stated that he found it ‘easy’ to  bowl to the opening batman due to his ‘struggles’against both the inswinger as well as the one that went away from him early on. He stated that he found it easier to bowl to Rohit Sharma as compared to Kohli as the latter revelled in pressure situations, though he did not find it difficult to bowl to either.

Meanwhile, Amir, who was considered among Pakistan’s best young fast bowlers over the past decade, brought an end to his controversial career, marred by a spot-fixing incident, in December last year. He finished with 119 wickets in Tests, 81 wickets in ODIs and 59 wickets in T20Is.