Top English Bowler Would Rather Have Virat Kohli’s Peak Impact Than Sachin Tendulkar’s Longevity

English leg spinner discusses his choice between Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar.

Top English Bowler Would Rather Have Virat Kohli’s Peak Impact Than Sachin Tendulkar’s Longevity

Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar, Adil Rashid (via Reddit)

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There is often a discussion and debate among fans, experts and viewers of the cricket game about whom they would pick between India’s greatest two batting icons. Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli for over 35 years have stolen the imagination of every cricket fan by producing knocks of the highest quality in crucial situations for the country.

They have been batting icons for decades and continue to be despite Sachin Tendulkar retiring 12 years ago and Virat Kohli entering his career’s last leg. Most of the statistics that exist in batting will have Tendulkar on top with Kohli a close second.

One such discussion took place on the podcast show “Beard Before Wicket” which England players Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid are a part of. They often choose between two similar and difficult options and give their insights. One such question that was asked to Adil Rashid was about whom would he prefer to have in his armory between Kohli’s peak impact and Tendulkar’s longevity?

Virat Kohli’s peak impact.

Adil Rashid said

Rashid had no second thoughts, and in a flash chose Kohli. Rashid has been a contemporary of Kohli and has faced him in international cricket on numerous occasions. With firsthand experience of the Delhi born batter, Rashid was very sure what he was talking about.

Tendulkar has scored a remarkable 100 international centuries in a career that spanned over 24 years. His longevity to stay supremely fit and battle injuries without going out of form for too long has been his hallmark and often what many aspire to achieve.

On the other hand, Kohli’s peak saw him reach heights that not many could think of. The years 2016- 2019 saw Kohli average well above 60 across formats. He scored above 8,300 international runs across these four years. These runs came with a record 36 centuries across Test matches and One Day Internationals.

In addition to this, Kohli also scored a remarkable 973 runs in a single season of the IPL in 2016 and 5 hundreds in the tournament across the four years mentioned above. Kohli was ruling every format of the game in these years and, most importantly he with his bat, revived Test cricket as India won the Test mace every year of Kohli’s peak.

How well has Adil Rashid fared against Virat Kohli?

Adil Rashid and Virat Kohli have faced each other on numerous occasions in international cricket. Rashid famously also produced one of the balls of the century to dismiss India’s star batter in the 2018 England series. That ball too Kohli came at a time when opposition were struggling to get past his shots.

Virat Kohli and Adil Rashid discussing
Virat Kohli and Adil Rashid (via OneCricket)

Rashid and Kohli have come up against each other a few times in Test cricket. Kohli has had good memories of facing the leg spinner in whites as he has scored 289 runs, getting dismissed on four occasions. Kohli has an average of 72.3 against Rashid in Test cricket.

In ODI cricket, Rashid has had the upper hand as he has successfully limited Kohli from scoring runs in their meetings. Kohli has scored 112 runs in 130 balls, averaging an underwhelming 22.4, getting dismissed five times to the spinner.

In T20I cricket, both Rashid and Kohli are even, with the batter scoring 72 runs getting dismissed twice. He averages 36 against the spinner in the shortest format. Kohli has had his struggles against leg spinners, and that is evident in his ODI and T20I battles against Rashid.

Kohli has done well against him Tests, but Rashid has held the upper hand by dismissing him a total of 11 times in international cricket, the most a bowler has dismissed him, joining Tim Southee and Josh Hazlewood.

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