When It's Virat Kohli's Day, He Ensures He Finishes The Match; That's Exactly What Sachin Tendulkar Used To Do - Virender Sehwag

Former India opener, Virender Sehwag points out another similarity between Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar after the Indian skipper anchored another successful run chase on Sunday against England.

After back-to-back ducks, Kohli was at his best once again in the second T20I in Ahmedabad; he held one end as Ishan Kishan, and then Rishabh Pant teed off from the other. Post their dismissals, the right-hander ensured the team crossed the finishing line with ease remaining unbeaten on 73 off 49 balls with the help of 5 fours and 3 sixes.

Virender Sehwag praised Virat Kohli for often taking responsibility to remain till the end of the innings – as Sachin Tendulkar used to tell to cash in when it’s your day. While Kohli is already well placed amongst the greats, his record in T20Is is elite – in 81 T20I innings he has remained not out 22 times. In run chases, he averages a mind-boggling 83.76; that average climbs up to a scarcely believable 108.30 in successful run chases.

“When it’s Virat Kohli’s days, he ensures he finishes the match and is right there till the end, irrespective of the format he is batting in. This is a special aspect about his batting. Like Ajay (Jadeja) said, Rishabh Pant and Ishan Kishan should learn from Kohli, that when it’s your day, just don’t get out. That’s exactly what Tendulkar used to do,” said Virender Sehwag while speaking on a chat show on Cricbuzz.

“He used to tell me ‘if today is a good day for you, then play as long as you can, remain not out and score runs’ because what kind of day you have tomorrow, whether you’ll score runs, is not known. But today you know the way you’re playing, the ball is appearing like a football,” Virender Sehwag added.

Rishabh Pant and Ishan Kishan should learn from Kohli: Virender Sehwag

While Ishan Kishan (56 off 32) and Rishabh Pant (26 off 13) played their part brilliantly to keep the attacking momentum, however, Virender Sehwag reckons both the left-handers, in particular, Pant, should learn from their skipper to try to remain unbeaten and see off the chase.

“So make the most of it and stay not out because it’s important. This holds true for both Pant and Kishan, more so for Pant because when he came out to bat, he had hit a six and a four in that over. Had he rotated the strike, waited for the bad balls, the match could have been over sooner,” the former India batsman added.

Also Read: I Wasn’t Surprised When I Saw Ishan Kishan Teeing Off: Jason Roy