“Virat has developed immensely as a player over the years. I always saw that spark in him and always felt he is going to be one of the leading payers in the world, not just of this generation, but one of the leading players of all time,” Tendulkar said
Mumbai: Don't compare generations. That's the message Sachin Tendulkar gave when asked about the comparison between him and the high-flying Virat Kohli at an event in Mumbai on Thursday.
“If one has to go into comparisons, then I don't want to get into that. There were different bowlers who played in the 1960s, 70s, 80s, in my era and the ones who are playing today. Then, each generation played differently, there were different rules, different restrictions, different surfaces, different balls as well. So lots of things have changed,” said the cricket legend.
Tendulkar was effusive in his praise of Kohli, who recently became the fastest to amass 10,000 ODI runs, doing it in 54 innings less, during the series against West Indies. He also became the first Indian batsmen to score a hat-trick of ODI tons in that series. With 62 international hundreds (24 in Tests and 38 in ODIs) to his name, Kohli is fast catching up on Tendulkar's record of a century of centuries, and is tipped to break many other records that the Master Blaster had set.
“Virat has developed immensely as a player over the years. I always saw that spark in him and always felt he is going to be one of the leading payers in the world, not just of this generation, but one of the leading players of all time,” Tendulkar said.
The Master Blaster felt Kohli and his boys have a great chance of pulling off their maiden Test series win in Australia. India will start their tour later this month. They will play four Tests, three T20Is and three ODIs Down Under.
“I think we've a huge opportunity this time. The Australian team does not look the same side that it used to be in the past and with (Steve) Smith and (David) Warner not there, this is a chance for India to go out and do something special,” Tendulkar asserted.
On the bans handed to Smith and Warner on account of ball-tampering, Tendulkar said, “I would want to see good cricket for sure. They both are world-class players. But I don't want to get into that debate whether the ban should be reduced or not.”
Tendulkar welcomed growing competition in the Indian team. “It's good that the competition for places in the XI is heating up. Healthy competition is always welcome,” he said.
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