It is one of the greatest debates that has raged in Indian cricket over the past few years. This new generation of Indian cricket is defined by Captain Virat Kohli and the Delhi-based batsman has broken records almost every single year like it was a normal part of life. Kohli has reached levels of consistency and greatness that was hitherto only seen by the Master Blaster of Indian cricket, Sachin Tendulkar.
The question in discussion is the obvious one: Is Virat Kohli better than Sachin Tendulkar?
Look, before the 90s kids get into a squabble, consider one facet: Kohli is not responsible for the level of bowlers that play today – This is because one of the primary points that Sachin fans bring to the debate is that Kohli did not face bowlers that played during Sachin’s era. They do have a point, no doubt, and batting conditions may have become favourable in Kohli’s time, but is Kohli doing enough to warrant this discussion.
Numbers do the talking:
The numbers reveal a lot. Kohli is obviously much ahead at this stage in terms of the number of years and the number of runs at this stage. Virat Kohli is 8,587 runs at this point of time and has already reached 30 centuries for the country, chasing only Sachin now, having equalled Ponting.
He has also achieved this milestone in just 194 ODIs. Numbers can be a little taxing but if they reveal such stellar insights, then there surely must be some reality behind them.
Virat Kohli might not break Sachin’s record of centuries in Tests as he has played in fewer tests when you consider the number of longer format matches Sachin played in his day. However, Kohli can stake a claim to be the greatest ODI batsman at least.
Indians are lucky:
How much ever Kohli does hit however, we as Indians must be proud of the man. He has come at a time when Indian cricket was heralded into a younger, hungrier era under Dhoni and went on to make massive changes and sacrifices to reach the point he has reached today.
Virat Kohli also has a better level of fitness compared to Sachin and should he continue such mind-boggling performances, he will undoubtedly go down as the greatest of all time in ODI Cricket. Only time will tell.
By Rohit Nair
