Mohammad Yousuf, former Pakistan skipper rates the Indian batting line-up of Sachin Tendulkar’s generation comprising of the likes of batsmen Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly higher than the current one led by Virat Kohli, saying that the quality of bowlers during those times was better than the one at present.
Mohammad Yousuf, himself a legendary batsman of Pakistan, also considers legendary former Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar as the complete batsman of his time, better than the likes of former West Indian legend Brian Lara and Australian skipper Ricky Ponting.
Mohammad Yousuf: Felt Sachin Tendulkar Was The Most Complete Batsman
Sachin Tendulkar’s generation of Indian batsmen faced the likes of Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee, Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne, Shoaib Akhtar, Wasim Akram, Shaun Pollock, Alan Donald among others. In contrast, the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma face likes of Lasith Malinga, Dale Steyn, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins among other bowlers.
“Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul are all quality batsmen but if I compare, the Indian batting (line-up) of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly was better,” Yousuf said. “You don’t have that sort of bowling quality nowadays, cricket has changed a lot and things are different now,” Mohammad Yousuf said.
Talking about Tendulkar’s batting, Mohammad Yousuf said, “When I was playing for Pakistan there were many great batsmen in those days like Lara, Pointing, Matthew Hayden but I always felt that Tendulkar was in every way the most complete batsmen.”
He said India’s bowling was not that strong when he was playing as compared to the current pace and spin attack, but batting was of the top standard then. India’s bowling line-up nowadays comprise of likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. At the same time, Sachin Tendulkar had teammate bowlers like Ajit Agarkar, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan to name a few.
Mohammad Yousuf: Captaincy Made Virat Kohli A Better Player
The 46-year-old Mohammad Yousuf, who has featured in 90 Tests and 288 ODIs between 1998 and 2010, said while he enjoyed watching hitman Rohit Sharma, he always felt that Indian skipper Virat Kohli was more serious, committed and hard-working to achieve success both as a batsman and skipper.
“Kohli is very committed that is why he is so successful and he has already got runs in every cricket playing nation. I felt captaincy had only made him a better player.”
He also felt it unfair to make comparisons between Pakistan batsman Babar Azam and Virat Kohli as the current India captain has much more experience and exposure.
“Kohli has played much more cricket than Babar who has only about three to four years of exposure in international cricket,” said Yousuf who has scored 7530 Test runs at an average of 52.29.
“But yes, if you ask me to make a comparison based on where Kohli stood after the same number of matches that Babar has played, I would say Babar has done better,” he concluded.
Babar Azam debuted in 2015 while Virat Kohli debuted in 2008. Babar Azam has an average of around 45 in Tests, but in the white ball, he averages more than 50. Virat Kohli, on the other hand, averages more than 50 in each of the three formats but has played more matches than Babar Azam.