Virat Kohli better than Sachin Tendulkar: Imran Khan

New Delhi: It’s a very common practice to compare people, especially public figures. In cricket, currently it is the master blaster Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli. Whenever there is a discussion, the comparison between the two Indian cricketers comes up without fail. And former cricketers are often dragged into such debates. The latest to be drawn into this debate is the former Paksitan captain Imran Khan. In his 21-year-long international career for Pakistan, the cricketer-turned-politician played against many greats of the game. So it is a given fact that his opinion carries a lot of weight. “Cricket has had eras. In the eighties, it was Viv Richards, and then you had Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar who stood out. Virat Kohli is one of the most complete players I’ve seen. He’s so versatile; he plays on both feet, and on all sides of the field,” Imran told the Hindustan Times. Kohli, however, has earned this position that he be compared with the greatest Indian batsman Tendulkar. He has a tremendous record while chasing. He thrives in pressure situations. In fact, some of his best knocks have come while chasing. And Kohli’s recent performances in the World T20 and IPL 2016 only enhanced his stature as one of the best batsmen of the current generation. “Apart from his talent and technique, he has a very good temperament. His temperament is better than Sachin’s. Kohli performs at the most difficult of opportunities, which Sachin sometimes wasn’t able to,” Imran pointed out while comparing the traits of the two prolific batsmen. Imran witnessed the ‘painful’ loss of Pakistan against India at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata in the ICC T20 World Cup 2016. And the defeat was orchestrated by none other than Kohli, who scored a match winning knock of 55 off just 37 balls to see India home. “It was very painful watching Pakistan lose, but Kohli played a very good game. I look at batsmen from a bowler’s point of view and I think of how to get them out. Just look at how Kohli plays in difficult situations. He’s better than anyone. I’d say he’s the best internationally, today. You can back him to play any match.” India and Pakistan haven’t played a bilateral series for a long time due to reasons which have no connection with cricket and lamenting that fact, Imran feels that the ties between the arch-rivals should be restored. Airing his views about that, Imran said, “It’s very immature to punish Pakistan for something they did not agree with. This idea of collective punishment... no human rights (principle) calls for collective punishment. Everyone here condemned the Mumbai and Pathankot attacks. Mind you, we suffer far more terrorist attacks than you do every other day. So, to blame a country that’s actually suffering from the worst form of terrorism, and then to give it this collective punishment, is just very immature.”