Imran Khan feels Virat Kohli has a better temperament than Sachin Tendulkar

Comparisons between the Indian batting maestros Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli have been going around ever since Kohli’s emergence and recently the legendary Pakistan skipper Imran Khan gave his verdict on that. The cricketer-turned-politician in his 21-year-long international career for Pakistan played against many greats of the game and based on his wealth of experience, he shared his views on the ever-growing comparisons between Tendulkar and Kohli.

Recently, Imran told the Hindustan Times, “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.”

Virat Kohli has a tremendous record while chasing and the very fact suggests that the man relishes playing under pressure. Some of his best knocks have come while chasing and his recent performances in the T20 world cup and IPL 2016 only enhanced his stature as one of the best batsmen in the world right now.

Who is better: Sachin or Kohli?

Comparing the traits of the two prolific batsmen, Imran pointed out, “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 was present at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata where India locked horns with Pakistan in the ICC T20 World Cup 2016 but he was left flabbergasted as Pakistan suffered yet another defeat at the hands of India in a world event. Kohli scored a match winning knock of 55 off just 37 balls to see India home and Imran was full of praise for the right-handed batsman.

Khan said,“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-Pakistan bilateral series

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. He even called on the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the issue to be resolved at the earliest.

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.”

Surely, the traditional rivals will love to resume the cricketing ties between them.