Cricket World Cup: File photo of Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli© AFP
The ICC ODI Cricket World Cup 2023 is a big opportunity for Virat Kohli to reaffirm his status as an all-time great. The former Indian cricket team has already impressed at the Cricket World Cup with two half-centuries in India’s first two matches. More than his run count, it is the impact of his innings that has given India a boost. In the first match against Australia, with the team trailing by three, Virat Kohli put up a solid stand with KL Rahul and ensured India started their World Cup campaign with a win.
So far, after India’s third match of the Cricket World Cup against Pakistan, Virat Kohli has 13239 runs in 284 ODIs with 47 centuries. Virat Kohli is often compared to Sachin Tendulkar as he was the one who came closest with a chance of breaking the batting maestro’s 100 century record. The two were compared again in a recent TV show ahead of the India-Pakistan match.
‘Is he better than Sachin?’ the host asked Usman Khawaja on Fox Cricket, with former Australian player Brad Haddin also in attendance.
“I’m going to say in ODIs, yes. Because if you look at the stats, he has almost taken over how many hundreds he (Tendulkar) has, and he has played so many more fewer matches than Sachin. Sachin was the benchmark for when I was growing up, but what Kohli is doing now, no one has ever done that in the game,” Khawaja replied.
Former Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin added that Kohli’s impact has elevated the Indian cricket team.
“He makes players around him better. Everyone enjoys playing with him; he sets the bar high. When he joined the team, he wanted to leave a legacy, and he has done that with the way this Indian team is presented, the number one of the three formats of play going into this World Cup,” Haddin said.
“The other thing I like about him is the way he sets the pace of the game when he bats. He has different gears. He can go in and take the game from you, and can also get into a grenade if that’s necessary. He just sets the whole pace of the game.”
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