‘Kohli is a bigger match-winner than Tendulkar’
Former Australia cricketer Ian Chappell, currently Australian Channel Nine’s analyst, chose Virat Kohli over legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar when he was asked to compare the two great batsmen. He also labeled Virat Kohli as the best cricketer in the world right now.
“[The] knock Kohli played in Adelaide – the best counterattacking knock I have ever seen,” said Chappell.
“I think he is more of a match-winner than Tendulkar. But it’s a tough definition of someone who isn’t a match-winner. The best example is that of Brian Lara who got 600 runs in a Test series against Sri Lanka but they still lost 3-0. So you can be a good batsman but your team may lose because your bowlers don’t bowl well. Kohli has probably a more rounded bowling attack than Tendulkar had,” Ian Chappell said when asked if Kohli a bigger match-winner than Tendulkar by the end of his career.
“Both are damn fine players. All you know about comparisons is a champion player in one era would be a champion player in another era. So if Tendulkar was starting out now he would be a champion again,” added the 74-year-old.
Chappell reminisced about the innings Kohli played in the second innings of Adelaide Test match in 2014, as the best counterattacking innings ever played. It’s the time when he emerged as a leader of the side in absence of MS Dhoni who eventually retired from Test after that series.
Australia had declared their innings by setting a 364-run target for the Indian team. Kohli then went all guns blazing against the Aussie bowlers and scored 141 off 175 balls. He was singlehandedly taking the team to an astonishing victory but failed due to lack of support from the middle-order. As a result, India ended up 48 runs short of the target.
“It’s more about who you like to watch. And I like watching Virat Kohli play. I thought the innings he played in Adelaide in the second innings was the best counterattacking knock I have ever seen,” replied Chappell, when asked who does he thinks, is the best batsman currently across formats considering Test cricket as well.
Also, Ian Chappell stated that Kohli along with Warner are the best across all formats due to their ‘aggressive’ brand of cricket.
“So I think, he has the game for across formats. And he is the one I enjoy watching the most along with David Warner. I am sad Warner won’t be there for 12 months. I guess it’s the aggressive players I like watching,” continued the Channel Nine expert.
“Because you can only have success as a batsman if you are scoring big runs. If you are thinking of survival, you are in trouble as a batsman. These two are my favorites,” concluded Ian Chappell.
