Australian batter Usman Khawaja stated that Virat Kohli is better than Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar in ODIs with his centuries.
Usman Khawaja ends debate on Sachin Tendulkar or Virat Kohli
India is currently playing in the World Cup 2023 at home ground. They have victories in three matches they have played and top the table with the victory against their arch-rivals Pakistan on October 14 at Ahmedabad.
The ICC event provides a big opportunity for Virat Kohli to live up to his name. He had already registered two fifties in India’s first two matches. In the match against Australia, it was Kohli who took a solid stand with KL Rahul after the fall of three top-order batsmen to ensure victory for the side.
Virat Kohli has scored 13239 runs in 284 ODIs with 47 centuries. He has been compared with the god of cricket Sachin Tendulkar and being close to his records, Kohli has a chance to break the legend 100 Century record.
When the reporter asked “Is he better than Sachin?” the Australian player Usman Khawaja said, “I am going to say in ODIs, yes,” on the media.
“If you look at the stats, he has almost overtaken how many hundreds he (Tendulkar) has got, and he has played so many more fewer games. Sachin was the benchmark for when I grew up, but what he is doing right now, no one has ever done that in the game.”
“He is the greatest of the run chasers that we have seen in One-Day cricket. The thing I love about Virat is his consistency. The reason I believe he is so consistent over such a long period is that he is the greatest two and four-hitter I have seen. He doesn’t hit a lot of sixes in ODIs,” said Khawaja.
Former Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin who was present during the interview said Kohli’s impact in team have lifted the Indian Cricket team.
“He makes players around him better. Everyone likes to play with him; he drives standards high. When he came into the team, he wanted to leave a legacy, and he has done that with the way this Indian team is presented, the number one in all three forms of the game going into this World Cup,” Haddin said.
“The other thing I like about him is how he controls the tempo of the game when he bats. He has got different gears. He can go in and take the game away from you, and can also get into a shell when he has to. He just controls the whole tempo of the game,” he concluded.
With three victories in hands, India will be facing Bangladesh on the 17th match of the ICC event on October 19 at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
