Cricket World Cup: File image of Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli© AFP
The ICC ODI Cricket World Cup 2023 is one big opportunity for Virat Kohli to reaffirm his status as an all-time great. The former Indian cricket team has already made an impact at the Cricket World Cup with two half-centuries in India’s first two matches. More than his run tally, it’s the impact of his innings that have boosted India. In the first match against Australia, with the team three-down, Virat Kohli struck a solid stand with KL Rahul and ensured India start its 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 has often been compared with Sachin Tendulkar, being the closest one with a chance to break the batting maestro’s 100-century record. The two were again compared in a recent TV show ahead of the India bs Pakistan match.
“Is he better than Sachin?” the anchor asked Usman Khawaja on Fox Cricketwith former Australia player Brad Haddin also present.
“I am going to say in ODIs, yes. Because if you look at the stats, he has almost taken over how many hundreds he (Tendulkar) has got, and he has played so many more less games than Sachin. Sachin was the benchmark for when I grew up, but what Kohli is doing right now—no one has ever done that in the game,” replied Khawaja.
Former Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin added that Kohli’s impact has uplifted the Indian cricket team.
“He makes players around him better. Everyone likes to play with him; he drives standards high. When he came into the team, he wanted to leave a legacy, and he has done that with the way this Indian team is presented, the number one in all three forms of the game going into this World Cup,” Haddin said.
“The other thing I like about him is how he controls the tempo of the game when he bats. He has got different gears. He can go in and take the game away from you, and can also get into a shell when he has to. He just controls the whole tempo of the game.”
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