Five Reasons Why Virat Kohli Should Not Be Compared With Sachin Tendulkar

Updated - 24 Jun 2018, 09:30 PM

Virat Kohli
Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli. Credits: PTI.

Comparision in any form of the game is not justifiable in one way or another. Players play in the different era, in different conditions, against different opposition and thus it doesn’t make any sense to rely on the comparison. Thus, we take a lot at the five reasons why we should not compare modern-day giant Virat Kohli with legendary Sachin Tendulkar.

Meanwhile, Tendulkar was one of the best batsmen in the cricket world. However, Kohli has shown even greater consistency than the Master Blaster himself.

Sachin made his International debut as a teenager. He was able to play some of the difficult bowlers with such an aplomb.

Here are the five reasons why Virat Kohli should not be compared with Sachin Tendulkar:

Better Fitness Available:

Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli in his gym session. Photo Credit: Twitter:

Indian skipper Kohli has focussed on his energy and fitness. With better technology now available, Kohli has achieved a lot because of his fine fitness.

The right-hander has also borne fruits for maintaining a high level of fitness.

However, Tendulkar didn’t have the same facilities at his disposal when he started off his career. In fact, Sachin also maintained a high fitness level in his 24-year long career.

Thus, better fitness facilities are definitely helping the current Indian captain.

Difficult Bowlers:

Pakistan
Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. Credits: ESPN.

Sachin Tendulkar faced one of the best in the business:

Tendulkar faced high-quality bowlers like Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar, Curtly Ambrose, and Alan Donald in his career.

Furthermore, Tendulkar faced them at the peak of their respective career.

Consequently, Tendulkar delivered against one of the best in the business. In fact, he got the better off a world-class spinner like Shane Warne.

However, Kohli has also faced some of the good fast bowlers of the modern-day generation. But, those bowlers prowess cannot be likened to the ones Tendulkar faced in his career.

Tighter Rules:

Sachin Tendulkar
(Photo Source: AFP)

Sachin Tendulkar played in the era when ODI cricket was played with a solitary ball. Thus, Tendulkar had to tackle the reverse swing as well.

Furthermore, rules are heavily in favour of the batsmen as compared to the Tendulkar generation.

The bats have also become better and heavier. Thus, we notice that even an edge carries all the way to the boundary ropes.

In fact, Tendulkar recently raised his voice regarding the usage of two new balls in the ODI format after England tormented Australia.

The rule was changed in the year 2011 which has made the life of the batsmen a lot more easier as compared to the earlier times.

Current Indian team not only reliant on Virat Kohli’s shoulders:

Shikhar Dhawan,
Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma. Photo Credit: Getty Images.

Kohli has his teammates support.

Indian team in the mid-1990s reliant heavily on the shoulders of Tendulkar. The match was considered over when Tendulkar used to get out.

In fact, after the emergence of players like Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag, India was able to deliver consistent performances.

On the other hand, it is not the same story with the current Indian team.

The likes of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have stepped up their game and Mahendra Singh Dhoni has always provided the finishing touches to the side.

Revolution Because of T20 Game:

Sachin
Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli. Credits: PTI.

The game has itself drastically changed in the last decade after the emergence of T20 cricket.

The batsman has become more aggressive in their approach. Thus, the bowlers aim to keep the runs down rather than going for the wickets.

Consequently, the game has revolutionized in the recent past. Virat  Kohli has been super consistent in the limited overs format. In fact, he is the only batsman to average more than 50 in all the three formats of the game.

Meanwhile, Tendulkar played the shortest format of the game in the fag end of his career.

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India National Cricket Team Sachin Tendulkar Virat Kohli