SOURCE :- SIASAT NEWS
India’s star batter Virat Kohli scripted his name in the history books by becoming the second player to score more than 15,000 runs in the ODI format recently. Playing in the first match of the ongoing ODI series against the West Indies, Kohli walked off the pitch unbeaten on 139 off 88 balls (ten 4s, nine 6s), guiding his side to an eight-wicket victory at Thiruvananthapuram along with the other centurion, Shubman Gill.
But for Kohli, this was a special innings. It was his 55th century in the format, taking his tally to 15,080 runs after 303 ODI innings.
The great Sachin Tendulkar is the only player ahead of him, with 18,426 runs to his name. But Kohli reached the 15,000 landmark in only 303 innings, while the Master Blaster had taken 377 innings to do the same. Kohli needed 15,950 deliveries to reach the mammoth total, while Sachin did so in 17,528 balls.
It is a difference of almost 1,600 balls. An interesting fact is that when crossing the milestone, Kohli had hit 1,399 fours and 180 sixes, whereas Sachin had recorded 1,608 fours and 164 sixes at the same point.
Where centuries are concerned, Kohli has hit 55 ODI centuries to Sachin’s 49. Kohli has scored a century every 5.65 innings on average, while Tendulkar has scored one every 9.22 innings. Furthermore, India won 50.54 per cent of matches when Tendulkar played, while when Kohli played, it rose to 61.59 per cent.
Sachin’s total may remain as Kohli to retire
However, Sachin’s overall total of 18,426 ODI runs is still unbroken. Virat Kohli is yet to reach that huge landmark, and he may not be able to do so. Because he has also announced that he will not continue his career beyond the 2027 World Cup that is to be held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia in November 2027. Kohli has already retired from T20 internationals and Test cricket and now only represents India in the 50-over format. The 2027 edition will be Kohli’s 5th and last World Cup.
So who is better? Sachin or Kohli? That is one of cricket’s most intriguing debates. If the question is specifically about ODI batting, rather than overall greatness, perhaps Virat Kohli has a narrow statistical edge, although it must be acknowledged that Sachin Tendulkar’s overall ODI contribution and longevity remain extraordinary.
The overall career total favours Tendulkar because he has played more ODIs. But Kohli’s average and strike rate are substantially higher. Kohli has had extraordinary consistency. An ODI average approaching 60 over such a long career is remarkable. Kohli has maintained a level of consistency that Tendulkar, despite his enormous achievements, did not match statistically.
Run-chasing is Kohli’s strong point
Run-chasing ability is probably Kohli’s strongest point. He has developed into perhaps the most accomplished ODI run-chaser of his generation. Batting at No. 3, he has repeatedly paced an innings according to the required run rate, absorbed pressure and then accelerated towards the end. Tendulkar was also a magnificent chaser, particularly after moving to the opening position, but Kohli’s ability to calculate a chase almost ball by ball has become one of the defining features of his ODI batting.
Conversion of starts into hundreds is another aspect that Kohli has mastered. Tendulkar’s 49 hundreds were revolutionary when he accumulated them, but Kohli has subsequently pushed the standard even higher. Despite the fact that Kohli has played in an era of increasingly demanding fitness standards, his strike rate of roughly 94 is considerably higher than Tendulkar’s 86.23.
But this comparison needs some modulation. The two of them have played in different eras, with different pitches, equipment, bowling attacks and ODI strategies.
Sachin’s double ton broke new ground
The factors that go in favour of Tendulkar in any comparison are that his 18,426 runs remain the ODI world record, and he played 463 matches over a career stretching more than two decades. The ICC describes him as the leading ODI run-scorer and notes that his 200 was the first double century in men’s ODI cricket. That double century was a psychological breakthrough for later batters to capitalise on.
There is also an important qualitative difference. For a major part of the 1990s, Tendulkar was India’s principal batting weapon. He shouldered a greater burden. Opposing teams planned specifically for him. He opened the innings, played both the aggressor and the accumulator, and frequently carried India’s batting almost single-handedly.
Kohli, by contrast, has generally operated within much stronger Indian batting line-ups, particularly in the latter part of his career when he had Rohit Sharma and others in the lineup. That doesn’t diminish Kohli’s achievements, but it is relevant when comparing the circumstances in which their runs were scored.
So, if the question is “Who was the more efficient and consistently productive ODI batter?”, then Kohli would be the first choice. His higher average, higher strike rate, faster accumulation of runs, record number of centuries and extraordinary record in run chases give him the statistical edge.
While Kohli refined the art of winning ODI matches, it was Sachin who did the early spadework and laid the foundation for the next generation of players. He was a pioneer, for he changed the idea of what an ODI batsman could be. Kohli and those who followed built their careers on that foundation. So the most accurate way to end the comparison would be to state that each played a different role in India’s cricket history and each was the greatest of his own era.
SOURCE : SIASAT
