Cannot Compare Kohli And Tendulkar, Both Are Great In Their Own Way, Says Jonty Rhodes
With every innings of his, Virat Kohli‘s stature as the best batsmen of this generation is elevating and so is the comparison between him and his illustrious former teammate Sachin Tendulkar. At just 28, he is already third in the list of most One-Day International centuries and needs 3 more to surpass second-placed Ricky Ponting‘s tally of 30 ODI centuries. Overall, he has already scored 45 international centuries and 74 half-centuries and is looking good to add a lot more in the coming years.
Not surprisingly, his unbelievable batting prowess has made the cricket-obsessed fans go gaga over him and they are not missing a single chance to compare him with Tendulkar. However, former South Africa batsman Jonty Rhodes, while admitting that he does not like comparing players from different eras, said both the players are great in their own way.
“I am not a great believer in records and I don’t like to compare players from different eras. They are wonderful players. Both are great in their own way. Tendulkar is Tendulkar and Virat (Kohli) is Virat,” Rhodes said.
When asked whether Kohli would be able to break Tendulkar’s incredible records, the South African said:
“Tendulkar started at the age of 16 and played until the age of nearly 40, for almost 24 years and set several benchmarks. I don’t know if Kohli can play for such a long time, given the demands of a modern-day cricketer,” he said.
“Virat has started his career very well. His prolific run-scoring is incredible. He has made a lot of runs at a young age. Kohli must be just Kohli and should not be compared with Tendulkar,” he added.
Earlier this year while speaking to former England captain Nasser Hussain, Kohli had also expressed his doubts over whether he would be able to play as much as Tendulkar did.
“I might not play that long (24 years). 200 Tests, 100 international centuries. Those are incredible numbers and will be impossible to achieve. But yes, I want to make a difference and always believe that I must leave the game on a better note,” Kohli had said in January.
