‘There Is No One Bigger Than Sachin’: Saqlain Mushtaq’s Take On Kohli vs Tendulkar Debate
New Delhi: There is a constant debate among cricket fans on who is the most incredible batter of all time. Whether it’s Sachin Tendulkar, who inspired millions or Virat Kohli, who is considered one of the most fantastic cricketers of the modern-day era. Virat, with 75 centuries in international cricket, stands just behind Sachin, who has a remarkable figure of 100 centuries in international cricket, the most by any batter in the history of cricket.
Amid this ongoing debate, former Pakistani spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, the inventor of the magical ball “doosra”, make a big comment on Virat’s comparison with Sachin Tendulkar. Mushtaq said Sachin is way too good than Kohli. According to him, the reason behind this is the quality of bowlers Sachin faced during his time.
Speaking in the podcast on Nadir Ali’s Youtube channel, he said,” “If there is one batter – and it’s not just me, the whole world agrees – there is no one bigger than Sachin Tendulkar. People give Sachin’s example if you have to give a copybook example of any shot. Virat Kohli is a legend of today’s era, but Sachin has faced extremely difficult bowlers. The bowlers of that era were something different altogether. Has Kohli faced Wasim Akram? Has he faced Walsh, Ambrose, McGrath, Shane Warne, and Muralitharan? These were big names, and they were all very clever bowlers. They knew how to trap you. Today there are two types of bowlers – one that will stop you and another that will trap you. Those guys knew how to do them both – especially trap batters.”
However, it is hard to coincide with his analysis as Virat has also faced bowlers like James Anderson, Nathan Lyon, Adil Rashid, and Kagiso Rabada, exceptionally talented pacers who have achieved much through their bowling skills.
Another player constantly drawn into comparison with Virat Kohli is the Pak skipper Babar Azam, whose remarkable batting skills and stats make many cricket fanatics feel that he is the most excellent batter of all time, often considering him even better than Virat.
Saqlain has a different view on this comparison as he feels that both cricketers are excellent but different in other aspects of batting skills. However, he gave Babar more marks than Virat Kohli when it comes to cover drive.
“Kohli and Babar are different players, but both have their class. But if you look at the beauty, perfection or technical aspects, Babar’s cover drives are much better,” 46-year-old spinner added further to his comments on this comparison.