Why Sachin Tendulkar Will Always Be Ahead Of Virat Kohli? Saqlain Mushtaq Explains

Zee News

It can be argued that Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar are the two greatest batsmen of all time, given their outstanding numbers in international cricket. Sachin, who played at the highest level for 24 years, holds the record for scoring the most runs and centuries in both the ODI and Test formats of the game. Virat, on the other hand, is slowly approaching Sachin’s tally, particularly in the ODI format where he has already scored 46 centuries, just shy of Sachin’s record of 49.

Virat Kohli, undoubtedly the best pull shot player of India _pic.twitter.com/HXOv9oyhoV

— B` (@WeStanKohli) March 17, 2023

On this day in 2012 - Sachin Tendulkar created history by becoming first player to score 100 "Hundreds" in International cricket.

The God of world cricket. pic.twitter.com/Ywh86plKIB — Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) March 16, 2023

"If there is one batter — and it’s not just me; the whole world agrees — there is no one bigger than Sachin Tendulkar. If you have to give a copybook example of any shot, people give Sachin’s example. Virat Kohli is a legend of today’s era, but Sachin has faced extremely difficult bowlers," Saqlain said on Nadir Ali’s podcast.

"Has Kohli faced Wasim Akram? Has he faced Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan? These were big names, and they were all very clever bowlers. They knew how to trap you. Today there are two types of bowlers – one that will stop you and another that will trap you. Those guys knew how to do them both – especially trap batters," he said.

There has always been a debate among fans and cricketers as to who is the better batsman between Sachin and Virat. However, former Pakistani spinner Saqlain Mushtaq believes that even though Virat is a legendary cricketer of the present era, Sachin will always remain the greatest of all time. According to Saqlain, Sachin faced more challenging bowlers during his playing days, giving him an edge over Virat.

When asked about who is the better batsman between Babar Azam and Virat, Saqlain believes that Babar still has a long way to go before being compared with Virat. However, he did mention that Babar's cover drives are better than those of the Indian superstar.

"Kohli and Babar are different players but both have their own class. But if you look at the beauty, perfection or technical aspects, Babar’s cover drives are much better," he said.