Auckland: Martin Crowe, on Tuesday, paid a rich compliment to star batsman Virat Kohli, terming him a combination of India’s premier batting trio of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag.

Crowe feels that Kohli is the “beacon in this rebuilding team” who will need to rapidly learn to become a true leader and a role model for millions.

“In some ways, this young giant (Kohli) is a combination of all those three (Sehwag, Tendulkar and Dravid), learning a bit from them all to shape his own unique creation.

“He is the next chosen one. He exudes the intensity of Rahul, the audacity of Virender, and the extraordinary range of Sachin. That doesn’t make him better, simply sui generis, his own unique kind,” Crowe wrote in his column for ESPN Cricinfo.

“At present, he is a beacon in this rebuilding team, while some of those around him who have come in to fill in the void left by the big three, struggle to cope. Already, he is the leader of the batting line-up, with just 22 Tests to his name, and so, a huge responsibility beckons,” the former New Zealand captain pointed out.

Crowe reckoned that Kohli has quickly grown from being a “pupil to teacher” from the time he saw a precocious but immensely talented teenager as the coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) during the first edition of IPL.

“In many ways, he follows the essence of life: Loving what he does and doing what he loves, and learning all he can, often at a rapid pace. Kohli has gone from pupil to teacher quickly, and his next level is to become a master.”