Even since Virat Kohli first tiptoed in international cricket, he was not just compared with Sachin Tendulkar but was thought to break all of the legendary cricketer’s records at one point. Even though the former India skipper previously stated that he doesn’t like these comparisons since Sachin is the reason he started playing cricket, the noise never faded. Even to this day, with each passing century, Virat is reminded that he is getting an inch closer to Sachin’s 100 centuries record, which was once thought to be impossible for someone to break.
Nevertheless, former cricketer Ricky Ponting isn’t a big fan of comparing Virat with Sachin, at least for now. The 48-year-old however reminded that cricket has become much easier now with the changes in so many rules like fewer fielders outside the circle and the fact that balls don’t reverse swing much in white-ball cricket these days.
“Trying to compare the times and I know Virat played a little bit in the back end of that Sachin played, but it is a bit of a different game now. There are different rules, for instance, around 50-over cricket, with less fielders outside the circle. Two new balls. I think it makes it a lot easier now for batting than probably ever before. There's no doubt that the bats have got better," the Australian legend said.
I always like to judge the quality of players on their longevity in the game: Ponting
“Field restrictions and new balls are a big part of it as well. When Sachin was playing ODIs, the ball at the end of a 50-over game was very hard to see. It was very soft. It was very hard to hit, it (would) reverse swing. You don't see that at all in the modern 50-over game,” Ponting mentioned on the latest episode of the ICC Review.
The two-time World Cup-winning captain also mentioned that one can only compare Virat with Sachin after the prior announces his retirement from the game. Until then, there’s a lot of cricket that he will play and there are a lot of records that he can create.
“I always like to judge the quality of players on their longevity in the game. I think that's the best way to judge players because maintaining such a higher level of excellence for so long is the hardest thing to do. Some players can come in and do it for three or four years and look like the best players in the world, but the very, very best sustain it for long periods of time and Sachin sustained it for more than 20 years at the international level. To play 200 Test matches (like Tendulkar) within itself is an unbelievable feat.
Furthermore, Ricky Ponting felt that comparing Kohli at this stage would be not fair by reasoning that Tendulkar has already got 100 centuries during his illustrious career while the modern great is still playing and it will take time to reach that special landmark which the Master Blaster has already achieved. Hence, it will only be fair to draw any comparison once Virat bids adieu to international cricket.
"Virat's got all that ahead of him just yet. He's an unbelievably good player, there's no doubt about that. He's got over 70-odd international hundreds now. Sachin made a 100, didn't he? Let's wait until Virat's career's over and then I think it'll a much fairer comparison,” he added.
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