Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar’s professional journeys have gone different courses despite repeated comparisons, although they share a lot of similarities. Run-machines, both of whom achieved success early in their careers, later developed as India’s batting cores during their extended peaks. They stood out because of their capacity to adapt to any situation and prosper while maintaining their run-making skills. Despite the fact that Tendulkar and Kohli’s careers have been parallel for five years, their apex periods make it inappropriate to compare them and draw conclusions. However, when you contrast a great player A with a great player B following a similar period of time in their careers, it’s unquestionably an interesting nugget for a fan.
Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar both made their debuts for India when they were teenagers. Tendulkar was 16 when he made his debut for India, while Kohli was already an adult at the age of 19. To play Test cricket, though, Kohli had to wait until he was 22 years old. He had to make his way into a team that was No. 1 in Tests and had Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, and MS Dhoni in their lineup. The position left open by Sourav Ganguly was being contested by Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh, and young players like Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Manoj Tiwary, and Ajinkya Rahane were pounding on the team’s door.
In contrast to Tendulkar, Kohli was not considered a youthful prodigy even before he represented India. When he took the field to bat in his first international game, he was still a familiar face. He formerly coached India to victory at the Under-19 World Cup in 2008. He had also participated in the first season of the Indian Premier League for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) (IPL).
Read More: 5 low-scoring thrillers in which India overcame
Since the world first saw Tendulkar in 1989, his innate talents have been on display. The batting community recognized India had discovered a great player when he faced the deadly Pakistani pace attack with a bleeding nose, faced Abdul Qadir, and saved a Test in England after smashing a century at the age of 17.
Even getting into the ODI team was extremely difficult for Kohli. Tendulkar continued to play brilliantly. Sehwag, Gambhir, Yuvraj, Raina, and Dhoni were present. Rohit was viewed as a long-term prospect, and the selectors would be seduced by Yusuf Pathan’s X-factor. Rahul Dravid was also called up to the ODI lineup at this time. Shikhar Dhawan, S Badrinath, Manoj Tiwary, and Dinesh Karthik were squeezing into the tiny space. Kohli’s only choice was to make the most of his few opportunities Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar.
If Tendulkar was about the ability to meet a commitment, Kohli is about hard effort and ambition in dating. Kohli will have played 12 years of international cricket on August 18, 2020. Since making his international debut, no other batsman has had as much success as the Indian captain. To put his total of nearly 21,000 international runs in perspective, no other batsman has even 17,000 in the same time period. as a result of this comparison. Check out Tendulkar’s whereabouts 12 years after retiring from international cricket (November 14, 2001).
Here, Kohli undoubtedly controls the numbers. But we are unable to draw any further conclusions from this. Tendulkar began his career by batting in the middle of the order, in contrast to Kohli. He didn’t begin opening frequently until 1994, his fifth year of international cricket. Tendulkar played 81 innings from No. 4 to No. 7 during this time. The number would be 48 for Kohli. The average batting average for batsmen throughout Tendulkar’s first 12 years was in the late 20s, and the typical strike rate was in the early 70s.
Read More: New Hyundai Tucson Launched by Hyundai Motors India
Tendulkar’s first 12 years of ODI batting against other legends
Reduce 3,000 runs
Only seven batsmen—Tendulkar, Shahid Afridi, Adam Gilchrist, Chris Cairns, Sanath Jayasuriya, Saeed Anwar, and Aravinda de Silva—had a strike rate above 80 throughout this time. Only Afridi (99.30), Gilchrist (89.42), and Jayasuriya (88.89) had a higher strike rate than Tendulkar (86.49) on this list, although their averages were 18, 8, and 13 points lower, respectively.
In his first 12 years, Kohli faced off against other ODI batting legends.
Reduce 3,000 runs
There have been 42 batters with a strike rate of 80 or above since Kohli’s debut. T20 matches have altered ODIs. In fact, seven of these batsmen have a strike rate of greater than 100! Up to 12 batsmen have a better strike rate than Kohli does. AB de Villiers is the only other batter with a higher average than Kohli. During this time, South Africa had a strike rate of 1068 and an average of 60.90. Another batsman who has had a significant influence is Jos Buttler. He has a strike rate of around 120 and an average close to 41! “inputs from www.thebridgechronicle.com”.
