Kohli VS Tendulkar full review sports 11 team

 

Indian cricket fans have been divided over their choices of favourite players for a very long time. India has produced a galaxy of star cricketers and there have been heated debates and arguments over who can be termed as the “Greatest of All Time”. There is a conventional opinion among most Indians that Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is the ‘God of Cricket’, and his unparalleled feats are testimony to the fact that he is the best cricketer ever produced. While there have been other formidable names to this debate, such as Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman and Gautam Gambhir, 

Tendulkar easily emerges in the spotlight due to his unbroken records of centuries in all formats of the game. In the recent decade, however, one talented youngster has emerged as a tough competitor to the ‘God of Cricket’. Almost everybody in the country is familiar with the current Indian men’s captain Virat Kohli, and while some are comparing him to Tendulkar, others are claiming that with the existing feathers in his cap and his remaining years in cricket, he can easily surpass Tendulkar’s records.

The Kohli vs. Tendulkar debate has been the hot talk in the world of Indian cricket for years. Tendulkar’s career flourished under the captaincy of players like Ganguly, while Kohli has made a powerful impact under his own position as skipper. Kohli’s captaincy is considered far better by critics and commentators, than Tendulkar, as he has led India to more Test victories. He is also the highest run-scorer amongst Indian captains. On the other end, Tendulkar's captaincy records are not as shiny, he scored 11 centuries during his tenure.

Tendulkar scored 5612 runs in 111 innings of his first 71 Tests. He played his 71st Test against Australia in Australia. He struck 21 centuries and 21 fifties with a highest score of 217 which came against New Zealand in 1999. He only had a 1 double-century in Tests.

Kohli has so far scored 7066 runs in 86 tests with an average of 53.92. He is currently ranked #1 in ICC Test rankings. He has scored six double-centuries. All of his six 200s have come under his own captaincy. He is sixth highest in the list of most 200s in Test cricket and has most among Indians. In this case, Kohli is not too far behind, considering that he has a few years in him, and unlike Tendulkar (who began his career at 16), Kohli played his first test match at 22.

In terms of test centuries, Tendulkar takes the lead as he had 33 of those at the age of thirty-one, while Kohli has 26.

 In ODIs, the comparison between the two greats is quite intense. It looks like Tendulkar’s record of 18k+ runs and 49 ODI centuries look much achievable for Virat in the coming future. Tendulkar started his career at the age of 16 and played his 211st ODI at the age of 25. Kohli is currently 31 years old and is at the peak of his career, and already has 43 ODI centuries to his name.

Kohli has bagged 37 Player of the Match awards (in ODIs) up till this point in his career, considerably short of Tendulkar. He has been at the helm of things for over three years now and his record as a captain has only gotten better, both as a leader and an individual. Tendulkar, however, never had a successful time serving as a captain. 

However, many sports critics show a complete disregard for this comparison between Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar, arguing that the latter faced much tougher bowlers throughout his entire career. Also, they argue that it is not feasible to compare two cricketers from two different eras who have different strengths, positions, team conditions, techniques and ways of performing under pressure.

Sports critics point out that by comparing Kohli and Tendulkar, it can be seen that they have different strengths in different formats of the game as well as in their styles. While Tendulkar has a better batting style, Kohli bags it for better consistency. While Kohli is a better captain than Tendulkar, he has also come under various accusations for disorderly conduct which does not befit the captain of a national team.

Thus, while Kohli is undoubtedly a phenomenal cricketer, Tendulkar is an emotion for cricket fans all over the world. Kohli is likely to surpass Tendulkar’s records by the end of his career, but even that will not provide a definitive end to this debate. All we can do is sit back, enjoy the game and witness one of the best players ever produced go about performing brilliantly as the captain of the Indian Men’s Cricketteam.