Indian cricket has produced so many batting legends, but one cricketer has leapfrogged everyone in terms of run-making as well as popularity across the world and that is Sachin Tendulkar. The Mumbaikar has inspired almost an entire generation to take this fascinating game seriously in order to make a professional career.
However, after Sachin, if there is one batter who is equally famous and loved by fans is current Indian captain Virat Kohli. The consistency of Kohli has made him stand in the league of some legendary players, and this is why he is directly compared with Sachin. This has also given birth to a debate regarding who is the best Indian batsman. Some fans still rate Sachin as the greatest batsman, while some say Kohli is better. Now, former Pakistani cricketer and a legendary bowler Wasim Akram has dropped his thoughts on the never-ending topic.
While speaking in Aakash Chopra’s YouTube show, Akram compared two of the finest batsmen across generations. The ‘Sultan of Swing’ opined that both Sachin and Kohli are aggressive batters but unlike Kohli, the ‘Master Blaster’ has a calm nature which ceases an opportunity to get his wicket if Akram goes for a sledging option.
“He [Virat] is the modern great but compared to Sachin; these are two different players altogether. Both are aggressive but of varying nature. As a bowler, you look at a batsman’s body language, if I sledged Tendulkar he would have become more determined because he was aggressive but calm in nature,” said Akram.
“On the other hand, if I did the same to Kohli, he might get angry and try to attack me which gives me a good chance to take his wicket,” the 53-year-old added.
Akram heaped praises for batting genius Kohli and stated that the current leader of Team India across all formats is an absolute nightmare for bowlers at present.
“As far his technique is concerned, Virat Kohli is a nightmare for bowlers nowadays. He is supremely fit and will go on to break a lot of records,” the Lahore-born added further.
Sachin is the leading run-scorer in international cricket. He had featured in 664 matches and accumulated a mountain of 34,357 runs at an average of 48.52 with 100 centuries and 164 fifties.
Kohli, on the other hand, has so far played 416 international games and amassed 21,901 runs at an outstanding average of 56.15 with 70 hundreds and 104 half-centuries.
