“He was the best batter but as a captain…,” Shoaib Akhtar compares Sachin Tendulkar to Virat Kohli
Akhtar drew parallels between Kohli and Tendulkar, saying that after leaving the captaincy, Kohli played freely at last year's ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
Virat Kohli; Sachin Tendulkar and Shoaib Akhtar
Former Pakistan paceman Shoaib Akhtar opined that India great Sachin Tendulkar was the best batter in the world but when it came to leading the team, he used to seem lost. Akhtar compared Tendulkar to former India captain Virat Kohli and drew parallels between them.
“See, I believe Sachin Tendulkar is the best batsman in the world. But as a captain, he was lost. He left the captaincy himself,” Akhtar said while speaking to BoI News. Tendulkar has amassed 34,357 runs in international cricket in his splendid career spanning 24 years. Along with this, the Master Blaster has created other massive records in ODIs and Tests.
Akhtar then drew parallels between Kohli and Tendulkar, saying that after leaving the captaincy, Kohli played freely at last year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Though India failed to lift the Cup, Kohli emerged as the highest run-scorer with 296 runs.
“I was talking to one of my friends about Virat Kohli, and we were discussing the same thing. He was lost, and when he works on his mind, he will perform. When his mind became free, he ruled the T20 World Cup,” Akhtar added.
Shoaib Akhtar says India used to win matches at one stage due to Virat Kohli’s tons
Akhtar then heaped praise on the 34-year-old saying that when he used to score centuries, India used to win matches at one stage. “People tell me that you praise Virat Kohli a lot. I just say, why shouldn’t I do that?“
But as it’s known already, Kohli dealt with a lean patch for over three years but made a stunning comeback in last year’s Asia Cup, and went on to slam four centuries in white-ball cricket. The talismanic Indian batsman has the most number of centuries amongst the active players; with 74 international hundreds, he is only behind Tendulkar who has 100 international tons.
However, Kohli is yet to end his century drought in Test cricket. The Delhi-born batsman last reached the three-figure mark (136) in 2019 against Bangladesh in Eden Garden. He is currently a part of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy squad but not once he crossed the 50-run mark. He would have once scored his half-century but a controversial decision from the third umpire dismissed him for 44 runs in the Delhi Test. India are leading 2-1 and Kohli will be next seen in action in Ahmedabad Test, starting March 9.
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