India have beaten England in the 2nd ODI and that too comprehensively. Chasing 238, India lost just 2 wickets and romped home with about 13 overs to spare. Kohli and Gambhir(Delhi guys) guided India to this victory in Delhi. Kohli scored an 89 ball hundred while Gambhir supported equally well with an 84 run innings. But one thing is certain, Kohli has cemented his place amongst the Indian batting mainstays at the moment. He has scored 7 hundreds in his 60 odd one day career. Is he on way to becoming the next Tendulkar or is it too early to talk about this?
Game- Talking about his game, no one can deny that his game is top notch. Kohli has stormed into the top batsmen very very early in his career and walked ahead of many young, talented but more experienced players to play in India's successful 2011 WC campaign. He bats at no. 4 in ODI's and has the right kind of game that is required in a one day game. His game is pretty much like Tendulkar's who hits boundaries and also runs hard between the wickets. His career so far has been near perfect with runs and centuries coming regularly. He has now become one of the pillars of Indian middle order and you can trust him to stay on in difficult conditions. He plays shots all around the park. He pulls well, cuts well and drives frequently. He can hit sixes as well and can accelerate when required. Kohli has this quality of molding his game easily according to the situation. He has no major weakness for any type of bowling or any type of pitch. He focuses on finishing the game rather than throwing it off like in the one dayer against England yesterday. The fact that he flourished in India's last 2 losing ODI campaigns, one in South Africa and the other in England clearly show his potential.On this basis he clearly matches up with the best and might as well go on to become the next Tendulkar.
Numbers- Kohli has played 66 ODI's and has scored 2496 runs at an excellent average of 45.38 with a nice strike rate of 82.70. Kohli has 7 hundreds and 16 half centuries to his name. Comparing with Tendulkar, the average certainly matches up though it would be unfair to compare Tendulkar's 45 average in over 450 matches to Kohli's 66 match average but Tendulkar had a less average at this point of time in his career. Considering Kohli's average currently if he goes on to play the same no. of matches as Tendulkar he will go on to score 20,000 runs which will place him ahead of Tendulkar but it is too early to compare such a short career with Tendulkar's long consistent career. But again Kohli has certainly got the potential to become an all time legend if he continues playing the way he is playing today and is not marred by a severe injury.
Personality- Kohli has got a dynamic personality and a nice on and off field conduct. Kohli has the right kind of aggression required and at the same time keeps his cool and behaves well socially which make him a good sportsperson. Kohli has got nice looks(no concern with playing ability) and is poised to have a good advertising career like Tendulkar(again no concern with the game). He has also captained the Bangalore Royal Challengers and can be India's future captain. So all in all Kohli has got all qualities to make him the next Tendulkar. But he still has a long way to go particularly in test matches where he performed poorly against a relatively weaker West Indies team and has a little tendency of playing rash shots at important junctures.
Its for time to tell whether Kohli actually goes on to become a player of Tendulkar's level.
Game- Talking about his game, no one can deny that his game is top notch. Kohli has stormed into the top batsmen very very early in his career and walked ahead of many young, talented but more experienced players to play in India's successful 2011 WC campaign. He bats at no. 4 in ODI's and has the right kind of game that is required in a one day game. His game is pretty much like Tendulkar's who hits boundaries and also runs hard between the wickets. His career so far has been near perfect with runs and centuries coming regularly. He has now become one of the pillars of Indian middle order and you can trust him to stay on in difficult conditions. He plays shots all around the park. He pulls well, cuts well and drives frequently. He can hit sixes as well and can accelerate when required. Kohli has this quality of molding his game easily according to the situation. He has no major weakness for any type of bowling or any type of pitch. He focuses on finishing the game rather than throwing it off like in the one dayer against England yesterday. The fact that he flourished in India's last 2 losing ODI campaigns, one in South Africa and the other in England clearly show his potential.On this basis he clearly matches up with the best and might as well go on to become the next Tendulkar.
Numbers- Kohli has played 66 ODI's and has scored 2496 runs at an excellent average of 45.38 with a nice strike rate of 82.70. Kohli has 7 hundreds and 16 half centuries to his name. Comparing with Tendulkar, the average certainly matches up though it would be unfair to compare Tendulkar's 45 average in over 450 matches to Kohli's 66 match average but Tendulkar had a less average at this point of time in his career. Considering Kohli's average currently if he goes on to play the same no. of matches as Tendulkar he will go on to score 20,000 runs which will place him ahead of Tendulkar but it is too early to compare such a short career with Tendulkar's long consistent career. But again Kohli has certainly got the potential to become an all time legend if he continues playing the way he is playing today and is not marred by a severe injury.
Personality- Kohli has got a dynamic personality and a nice on and off field conduct. Kohli has the right kind of aggression required and at the same time keeps his cool and behaves well socially which make him a good sportsperson. Kohli has got nice looks(no concern with playing ability) and is poised to have a good advertising career like Tendulkar(again no concern with the game). He has also captained the Bangalore Royal Challengers and can be India's future captain. So all in all Kohli has got all qualities to make him the next Tendulkar. But he still has a long way to go particularly in test matches where he performed poorly against a relatively weaker West Indies team and has a little tendency of playing rash shots at important junctures.
Its for time to tell whether Kohli actually goes on to become a player of Tendulkar's level.
BULL.
ReplyDeleteVirat kohli is yet to go out of form. He is in a honeymoon period at the moment.it will be interesting to see how he copes up with the pressure and instill confidence when he goes out of form. Other teams will soon get to know his weakness due to presence of foreign players in IPL. he should continue to improve his game in order to become a legend like TENDULKAR, Dravid and Ganguly. it is still a long way to go.
ReplyDeletePretty well said. But one thing is certain he has the kind of batting ability that can take him to the top. He is the brightest spot in the young indian cricketers.
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