I Don't Feel It Is Right To Compare Virat Kohli With Sachin Tendulkar: Virender Sehwag

Former India batsman Virender Sehwag feels the time is still not right to compare Virat Kohli with the legendary Sachin Tendulkar.

Kohli’s unprecedented run-scoring spree has drawn widespread criticism with Tendulkar, the most decorated batsman in the history of the game. The comparisons have further elevated after Kohli’s recent performances in the ongoing Test series against England.

In a series where almost all the batsmen have looked clueless, Kohli has looked class apart. He started the series with two sublime knocks at Edgbaston that helped him rise to the top spot in ICC rankings. Kohli had scored 149 and 51 in the game. It was followed by two cheap knocks at Lord’s that saw him lose his top spot.

But Kohli bounced back in style at Trent Bridge, slamming 97 and 103. The knocks helped India thrash England by 203 runs. It also helped him regain the top-spot in the rankings. At just 29, Kohli has scored 58 centuries and 66 fifties.

But despite Kohli’s stunning run with the bat, Sehwag feels it is still early to compare the India skipper with the legendary Tendulkar.

“I don’t feel it is right to compare Kohli with Tendulkar. It will be logical only if he is able to achieve the numerous records (200 Tests, more than 30,000 international runs etc.) set by Sachin. Every player including Virat wants to reach the benchmark of 100 international hundreds set by Sachin so he will try to do the same,” Sehwag told IndiaTV.

“He (Kohli) can do it as he has the talent and the hunger required to achieve these milestones. It becomes clear after you see the way he prepares and focuses on each match disregarding whatever happened in the previous one,” he added.

When asked about the reasons that make Kohli such a successful batsmen, Sehwag believes that it’s his preparation that sets him apart.

“A player becomes great only if he prepares well for each and every game. Today there is no one better than him in all three formats. He is an inspiration for players around the world. Even international players, when I talk to them in IPL, they talk about Kohli and his successful method,” said Sehwag.