2024-03-20 15:18:16
Mumbai: Former Indian cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu says that Virat Kohli is better than Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The former opening batsman’s comments were made just before the start of the IPL matches. He also explains the reason for that.
“I rate Kohli as the best Indian batsman of all time. There was a time when I used to listen to Sunil Gavaskar’s batting against the West Indies on a transistor, it was the seventies. He batted helmetless in that era among the best West Indies fast bowlers. He dominated for about 15-20 years. Then another era of Sachin came. Next came Dhoni and then Virat. Taking these four, I rate Kohli as the best as he fits all three formats,” Sidhu said in an interview to India Today.
Sidhu opined that MS Dhoni started the fitness revolution in Indian cricket but Kohli is fitter than him.
‘If you look at the four, he’s the fittest. Sachin had problems in the latter stages of his career. Dhoni, he is fit. Virat is super fit. It keeps him in good stead. It elevates him to a level that others can’t achieve’ – said Sidhu.
Sidhu is preparing to return as a commentator in IPL. Virat Kohli’s placement above India’s former legends has created a lot of debate among cricket fans.
Who is the best in Indian cricket is always debated. At the stage of India’s presence in Test cricket, batting talents like Vijay Hazare, Pauly Umrigar and Vinod Mankad made a name for themselves, and Sunil Gavaskar, who came after them, was considered the best batsman India has seen with 34 centuries and the first batsman to complete 10,000 runs. At the same time, there were talents like Gundappa Vishwanath, Dilip Vengsarkar and Mohinder Amarnath, but cricket pundits gave first place to Gavaskar.
After that period, Sachin Tendulkar emerged as a global superstar. Sachin held many records like being the first player to play 200 Tests, the first batsman to score 10,000 runs in ODIs, the first player to score 15,000 runs in Tests and the only player to score 100 centuries in all formats. The likes of Mohammad Azharuddin, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly proved their talent during this period but Sachin stood above them all.
Then came Dhoni and made a name for himself as the best batsman, wicket keeper and captain in all formats. It is a hot debate in the world of cricket today, comparing Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar, who started playing in the Dhoni era, who is better.
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