Comparisons are something that is made in every sphere of human lives. And when it is comparison encompassing a ‘religion’ called Cricket in a country like India things are bound to get really interesting and exciting.
While Sachin Tendulkar has won billions of hearts both in his country and outside with his sheer classical batsmanship and the way he has carried himself delivering the expectations of a cricket-crazy nation for 24 long years, the flamboyance and aggressive mould of Virat has already caught all eyes on the cricketing globe.
Tendulkar's prolific cricketing career that saw many eloquent heights
Tendulkar has seen, been and done it all. He has scored runs everywhere, on all sorts of tracks and against all opposition having great bowling line-ups. His consistency for such a long tenure has been a true hallmark of his genius. Again he has gone through lean patches like all other batsmen do; also he has survived from a career-threatening injury in the form of tennis elbow. Even after that, he has come out and scored tons of runs, been the ICC player of the Year (2010) and most importantly realized his long-cherished dream of winning the World Cup at home in 2011. Barring captaincy, his entire career track record has been clinical in a word.
By far, he has been the most complete batsman of his generation and one of the greatest if not the greatest batsman of all era.
Wondrous start and dream run in Kohli's career
Kohli, on the other hand, has been just in his 8th year of international cricket and have played only 5 years of Test cricket. Having said that, he has already proven himself as a phenomenal one-day batsman with as many as 26 ODI centuries already under his belt at the tender age of 28.
He has also completed 7000 runs in the 50-over format at an astounding average of over 50. More so while chasing he has just been lethal against all opponents and under all conditions being a genuine match-winner for India single-handedly winning games for his nation on numerous occasions. And the best part is that he does it so very consistently and with so much of ease.
In Tests too he has hit three-figure mark scores 14 times. He has evolved as a cricketer big time and the passion with which he plays the sport is amazing. Now that he is the skipper of the Test side there would be added responsibility on his shoulders and he seems to be handling it rather well bringing good positive results for India. With age very much on his side, he can surely turn out to be one of the all-time greats in the game’s history.
Still too early to compare between the two stalwarts
But this comparison between these two batting stalwarts as to who is better than the other is not yet befitting. In fact, there’s a long way to go for that. Both are uniquely talented and are truly batting maestros.
However, Sachin Tendulkar is already a living legend and Virat Kohli has a distant path to travel before being labeled as one.
On a personal level, people are going to have their own favorites and they have every right to have one. But that doesn’t mean that it is going to be done by degrading or upgrading one over the other. Sachin Tendulkar’s position and contribution to Indian cricket have been far more than just substantial. In his playing days, he used to be Mr. Indian Cricket and still now he is widely regarded by many from across the world as the God of Cricket. In fact, he is the only cricketer after Sir Donald Bradman who is worshiped beyond boundaries and has inspired a whole generation of cricketers to take up the sport as a career.
Virat Kohli too is a huge inspiration and a mega icon for many youngsters. He has got all the ingredients to be in the elite list of the greatest batsmen of all times if he can carry on the way he’s playing. But whether he can take it to the next level like Tendulkar did or match it to the stature of the little champion is yet to be seen.
