Former Pakistan captain claims Kohli is better than Sachin

Dec 13, 2017 at 8:14 PM

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Former Pakistan captain claims Kohli is better than Sachin

It’s another accolade for Virat Kohli’s colourful career. Legendary Pakistan pacer Imran Khan on Tuesday claimed that the flamboyant right-hander is better than legend Sachin Tendulkar in critical moments.

“Cricket has had eras. In the eighties, it was Viv Richards, and then you had Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar who stood out. Virat Kohli is one of the most complete players I’ve seen. He’s so versatile; he plays on both feet, and on all sides of the field,” Khan told Hindustan Times at his Islamabad residence.

“Apart from his talent and technique, he has a very good temperament. His temperament is better than Sachin’s.

The former World Cup-winning Pakistan captain was present at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata where India  and Pakistan faced each other in the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup 2016 but he was left with so much agony as Pakistan suffered yet another defeat at the hands of their arch rivals in a world event. Kohli smashed a match-winning innings of 55 off just 37 balls that day.

“It was very painful watching Pakistan lose, but Kohli played a very good game. I look at batsmen from a bowler’s point of view and I think of how to get them out. Just look at how Kohli plays in difficult situations. He’s better than anyone. I’d say he’s the best internationally, today. You can back him to play any match,” he further said.

Frankly speaking, billions have aspired so far to be like Sachin Tendulkar. But only one has managed to emulate him the closest ever.

Virat Kohli needs to achieve a few more accolades to be seated beside a person who is reckoned God by most — he needs to overcome at least a 15-year career, to say the least, surpass Tendulkar’s 100-century record, play a well-controlled Sydney like Test innings where no boundaries would pierce through the point and extra cover and show a befitting dominance.

It may look unacceptable to the majority, but the consistency Kohli shows while scoring topples the kind of form Tendulkar enjoyed at the peak of his career. And it’s also the fact that we don’t even know whether, at 27, the batting maestro is going through the form of his life. There is no such sign to show any denouement, not even a stagnant phase in this Kohli graph.

But the most significant point is as long as he maintains the current fitness level and thirst to win, it will be the toughest challenge to stop Virat Kohli from breaking every record his God owns.

The legendary cricketer also revealed, during his trip to India, Imran Khan called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and told him that India and Pakistan have to restore the cricketing ties as soon as possible.

“I did say he should start the tours, but it was the first time I was meeting him (Modi). If it was our second meeting, I would have said it’s a very immature foreign policy,” said Khan.

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