Sachin Tendulkar does not see any similarities between his and Virat Kohli's playing style

Although India have had a strong batting lineup more often than not, the focus would usually been on one batsman who is perceived to be the torchbearer of that era. The baton has been passed through some illustrious names such as Vijay Hazare, Gundappa Viswanath, Sunil Gavaskar, Mohammad Azharuddin and Sachin Tendulkar. For the present-day generation, Virat Kohli is the anointed one.

Inevitably, there have always been comparisons between the current star and his predecessor. However, as far as Tendulkar is concerned, he does not see any similarities between his and Kohli’s playing style.

In a candid chat with Times of India, the 43-year old shared an insight into what makes Kohli stand out from the other Indian batsmen of his generation and lauded the Test skipper’s dedication to the game.

Every batsman is different

Tendulkar said, “I don't see similarities in the playing style. He (Kohli) has his own style. He likes to flick the bat in hand before every ball. It's part of his preparation. I never did that, each batsman does things differently. I feel the new generation has more awareness about health.

“All the things are changing when it comes to approaching any sport. There's more study behind everything, whether it comes to diet, or your training pattern. That's clearly showing,” he added.

Sachin continued, “It's a progression on how players prepared themselves in the 90s. So was the case with players in the 70s. I remember that a laptop was introduced in our dressing room in 2002. It was revolutionary at that time. Things had started changing slowly. There were foreign trainers and physios in the dressing room. Diet, training methods, the way the players practice, everything has changed.”

When Kohli made his international debut during an ODI against Sri Lanka in 2008, Tendulkar was entering into the final phase of his stellar career and had to be preserved from burn-out. However, the duo did play 31 ODIs together during which they matched each other blow for blow.

Since then, the Delhi dasher has gone from strength to strength with already 26 white-ball tons to his name. Meanwhile, he played 17 Tests alongside Tendulkar with both the first and the last coming against West Indies at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Kohli has grown in stature in the game’s traditional format as well with his attacking captaincy complementing a rapidly evolving batting technique. Aside from being the third ranked batsman currently, he has led India to the top of the Test rankings with only two more unbeaten matches left in order to create a new national record.

Good student of the game

When asked about the 28-year old’s strengths, Tendulkar believed, “He's always been hungry and a good student of the game. His commitment has been very good, he's surely taken the 'fitness factor' to a different level. It'll have a good effect on the team.”

“He was a very open-hearted guy, and was hungry to learn, and was passionate. When you play for India, you need to be passionate. That's what he embodies. He has discipline, dedication and concentration.“

Eager to seal the ongoing series against England, the Indian team will return to the venue which had witnessed Tendulkar’s emotional farewell three years back. It seems that skipper Kohli will complete a full circle when the fourth Test begins in Mumbai from Thursday.

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