Brett Lee feels Virat Kohli is currently world's best but Sachin Tendulkar is still No.1

Former Australian speedster Brett Lee talked about the much-hyped comparison between the legendary Sachin Tendulkar and the charismatic Virat Kohli. In a recent interview with DNAIndia, one of the world’s fastest ever bowlers went on to dismiss the comparisons.

He said, “They're different players, and it's too hard to compare eras. We can't compare Don Bradman to Steve Waugh or Bradman to Sachin. We can't compare Sachin to Kohli. Sachin didn't play a lot of T20 cricket.”

The 39-year-old said that Kohli is the best batsman in the world right now but it’s the master who is still the greatest for the Australian. He said, “You know, with 200 Test matches to his name, Sachin to me is obviously No. 1. In terms of what Kohli is doing, he's certainly the world's best batsman right now in my opinion.

“And he's hungry, hungry for runs. When we talk again in 10 years' time, we might say that yes Kohli is sitting on 108 Tests or 150 Tests, and he is certainly making his way towards Sachin. We don't know. Time will tell, but it's too hard to compare eras.”

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The New South Wales-born cricketer also talked about Virat Kohli’s unbelievable run in the last 18 months or so and especially in this year’s IPL. He said, “Kohli, he's at a different level. Just at a different level. And yes, he missed out the other night, but that just proves that he is human, which is great. Even then, a lot of people think he's not human with what he has done this year. I mean he'll pass 1,000 runs for the first time ever in IPL history.”

Lee, who has more than 700 international wickets to his name, then explained about why Kohli has achieved so much success in the past. He said, “But what Kohli has done over the last two years is that he has tightened up his technique, where he used to feel for the ball outside off stump and get nicked off. He's so good with the short ball, so powerful in the 'V', so powerful down the crease. He plays traditional cricket shots in an IPL set-up. He is the classic, beautiful, perfect technique player. I've been so impressed with what I've seen of Kohli.”

The 39-year-old also talked about Kohli’s superhuman fitness both physically and mentally. He said, “He's a terrific fit person. He's a great guy. He's one of the hardest workers in world cricket. He's mentally strong. He doesn't like losing, and I mean that in a nice way. He goes out and gives it his best shot. So you've got to give the guy credit.”