Experienced Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik recently offered insights into comparing the batting records of Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar. Karthik noted that while Kohli has the potential to approach Tendulkar’s international cricket records, he faces a slight disadvantage due to not beginning his international career at a very young age, unlike Tendulkar, who debuted at the age of 16.
However, he stressed that Kohli will unquestionably be remembered as one of the all-time great batsmen in the history of the sport. In an interview with Cricbuzz, Dinesh Karthik stated:
“Sachin (Tendulkar) started at the age of 16, that makes the difference. Whereas Virat Kohli started much later. Those four or five years could be the difference. It is different from 16 to 21 than trying to catch up from 34 to 40. It is two different ballgames altogether.”
“What Virat Kohli has achieved is phenomenal,” he added. “Whether he goes on to touch Sachin’s record, just falls short, or gets ahead of him, you have to say he is going to come out as one of the greatest cricketers India have ever produced and one of the greatest batters the world cricket has ever seen.”
In India’s Super Four encounter against Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2023 on Monday, Virat Kohli delivered an exceptional performance. He remained undefeated with a score of 122 from 94 balls, contributing to the Men in Blue’s impressive total of 356 runs.
During this innings, the 34-year-old surpassed Tendulkar (who took 321 innings) as the fastest-ever to reach 13,000 ODI runs, achieving this milestone in just 267 innings. Additionally, Kohli secured his 47th ODI century and is now just two centuries away from matching Tendulkar’s record in this format.
“There is nobody who can come close to what he has achieved in ODI cricket” – Dinesh Karthik on Virat Kohli
Dinesh Karthik also discussed Virat Kohli’s remarkable success in ODI cricket, applauding him as the dominant figure in the 50-over format. He suggested that it would be a formidable challenge for other batsmen to equal Kohli’s statistics in ODI cricket. Showering compliments on the former India captain, Karthik commented:
“His (Virat Kohli’s) strongest suit has to be how well he has dominated 50-over cricket over a period of time. There is nobody who can even come close to him in terms of chasing, and there is nobody who can come close to what he has achieved in ODI cricket in terms of sheer numbers.”
“He is going to go down as the benchmark for anybody who takes up 50-over cricket, and mind you, 50-over cricket is at a very sensitive place right now. You don’t know what the life of 50-over cricket is going to be, but till the time it lasts, king Kohli will be the king of that format.” he added.
India secured a convincing 228-run win against their arch-rivals Pakistan. Their next match will be against Sri Lanka at Colombo’s R. Premadasa Stadium on Tuesday, September 12.
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