Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir, who is known for his hard-hitting opinions, selected the best batsman in One-Day International (ODI) between legendary Sachin Tendulkar and current India captain Virat Kohli.
While speaking on Star Sports Show ‘Cricket Connected’, Gambhir went with Sachin citing the new rules in ODI format which according to him are in favour of batsmen. He said that Kohli has done a phenomenal job, but the newfangled regulations have helped the modern-day batsmen.
“Sachin Tendulkar, because probably with one white ball and four fielders inside the circle, not five fielders outside, it will be Sachin Tendulkar for me. It’s difficult because Virat Kohli has done phenomenally well, but I think the rules have changed as well, which has helped a lot of new batters,” said Gambhir.
The cricketer-turned-politician stated that cricket currently is more in favour of batsmen when compared to Sachin’s era.
“The new generation, with two new balls, no reverse swing, nothing for the finger spin, five fielders inside for the 50 overs, probably that makes batting much easier,” added the former Delhi opener.
“Look at how Sachin Tendulkar has played, different rules, that time 230 to 240, was a winning total. Probably I’ll go with Sachin Tendulkar if we see the longevity and flow of the one-day cricket format,” Gambhir added further.
Sachin bid adieu from all forms of cricket in 2013, with a plethora of records etched to his name. The Mumbaikar remains the only cricketer to smash 100 international centuries and 164 half-tons. He is also the leading run-scorer in international cricket having as many as 34,357 runs in his account.
Kohli, on the other hand, has so far slammed 27 Test tons and 43 ODI hundreds. With 21,901 runs in the international arena, the 31-year-old is the highest run-getter amongst active players.
