"GOAT for a reason": U19 Women's T20 WC winning skipper Niki hails Virat's century against Pakistan

Bangalore (Karnataka) [India], March 1 : India's U19 Women's T20 World Cup winning captain Niki Prasad hailed legendary India batter Virat Kohli for his fine knock against Pakistan in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy, lauding the 36-year-old for his ability to make memorable comebacks after every setback.
Vintage 'King Kohli' was at work again while chasing 242 against Pakistan in Dubai during the Champions Trophy, giving fans another taste of 'Chase Master' he has been over the years.
During his knock, he went on to touch many milestones, such as scoring his first ICC Champions Trophy ton, reaching 14,000 ODI runs and becoming the third player to do so and surpassing Australian great Ricky Ponting to become the third-highest run-getter in international cricket.
Speaking to ANI, Niki said during an interview, "They call him GOAT (Greatest of all Time) for a reason. The way he comes back after every failure, it is not everyone can do that so easily. And I feel he is not afraid to make any mistakes to have that failure because that just makes him even more stronger. And it is seen whenever he bats and whenever he's hungry for something, it is seen."
So far in the ICC Champions Trophy, Virat has scored 122 runs in two matches at an average of 122.00, with the best score of 100*. As his team takes on New Zealand in Dubai on Sunday, he will be looking to get another good score to regain the consistency that made him India's most highly-regarded batter during all these years.
Virat ended the last year with just 655 international runs in 23 matches and 32 innings, averaging 21.83, with a century and two fifties to his name. His best score was 100*. Across all the formats, it was his worst-ever year in international cricket performance-wise. However, with plenty of ODIs scheduled this year, Virat would be aiming to regain his golden touch with the bat.
Meanwhile, Niki also opened up on her team's second successive world title win and her debut stint in the Women's Premier League (WPL), which she feels will help India win plenty of senior-level trophies in future in women's cricket.
Speaking about lifting the ICC U19 Women's World Cup after defeating South Africa by nine wickets in the title clash earlier in February, Niki said that while the first title win was special, the second one felt even more special as the team pulled off back-to-back title wins.
"It definitely feels very special, and I am really proud of my team and really happy that we won the World Cup again. And obviously, winning the first World Cup is quite special, but winning it for the second time is even more special. You have done it back to back. And that feeling is, you can't describe that feeling, but it is a very happy moment," she said.
Speaking about her learnings from the tournament, Niki said that one thing that the tournament taught her that a team cannot win matches consistently by relying on just one player or two, rather its an effort of all 11 players that helps a team win regularly.
"There was involvement from all our players and we wanted to express ourselves. And that is what we kept doing throughout the tournament. And that is one thing which I have learned that, you know, you always need to go out there on the field and really have that mindset of dominating and really showing what you can do," she added.