Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson have known each other from the U-19 years. They have seen each grow and dominate world cricket. There is often a debate about the greatest batter across formats in the last decade, and Williamson and Kohli always find themselves in it, along with Steve Smith and Joe Root. Williamson, while speaking to Sky Sports, set the record straight and named Kohli as the greatest all-format batter in the last 15 years.

“Virat is probably the greatest all-format player we've seen in the last 15 years,” said Williamson.

“He had his own challenges in an absolute cricket-obsessed country, and he was at the top of the tree. It's a great relationship in slightly different ways. We've stayed in touch in a lot of ways as well. But, yeah, it was not really a competitive thing. You're just in the team and you want to compete as a team.”

Williamson and Kohli's off-field life has also been pretty similar, and Williamson touched on that aspect and said it seems that their lives have progressed almost in parallel to each other.

“It was quite funny, just a full circle. That's the other part. We're not just playing cricket but you are living lives in a parallel way in a huge percentage. It's the different things you experience as you get older, so you do connect on similar levels,” said Williamson.

Kohli is now retired from Tests and T20Is, and only has a handful of ODIs left in his career. Williamson, while he is still playing all three formats, doesn't play every series. Last year, he stepped down as the side's white-ball captain and also opted out of New Zealand's central contract, but said that he remains committed to play for New Zealand.