Kohli and Williamson display mutual respect as India and Black Caps prepare for battle

Opposing captains Kane Williams and Virat Kohli were full of praise for each other ahead of New Zealand's five-match ODI series against India.

The Black Caps, ranked third in the world, host the side one place above them in the rankings over what promises to be a thrilling couple of weeks.

In Kohli, India boast the ICC's top-ranked ODI batsman, while earlier on Tuesday he completed a clean sweep in being named ICC Cricketer of the Year to go alongside his awards in the Test and 50-over formats.

And Williamson knows his side have their work cut out against a man who averaged a staggering 133.55 in ODIs in 2018.

"Someone like Virat is certainly a player I admire and enjoy watching and he's pushing the boundaries of the game so that's brilliant," said Williamson, who was included in the Test Team of the Year.

"He's a respectful guy and I've known him for a very long time but as a player, obviously, [he's] world class and our focus is more about that and his cricketing ability and how we can combat him as best as we can.

"He's always a challenge to come up against and is someone who is most admired in terms of how he goes about his cricket and he's formidable in his run scoring so he's definitely a player of note to try to shut down."

For the second year running, @imVkohli is the ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year! He scored 1,202 ODI runs in 2018 at a stunning average of 133.55. He also became the fastest to reach the milestone of 10,000 runs in the format. https://t.co/ROBg6RI4aQ#ICCAwards pic.twitter.com/m2CPb0vIGF

— ICC (@ICC) January 22, 2019

And Kohli had kinds words for his opposite number in return ahead of Wednesday's opening ODI in Napier.

"Williamson is easily one of the best players in the world. So easy on the eye, great to watch and I personally enjoy his batting and when he is on song he is easily one of the most attractive batsmen to watch," the India skipper said.

"He is always going to be a solid player for New Zealand purely because of what all he has done over the years in all three formats.

"He more or less makes the team win when he is scoring runs, so that tells you about his awareness about the game and hence he is leading the side and guiding it in the right direction. So Kane will be a factor but at the same time Rosco [Taylor] and other guys as well.

"You can't take anyone for granted and their batting revolves around Kane and Ross in ODIs especially, the other guys bat around them and we are aware of that and working on our plans."