Virat Kohli is arguably the finest batsman in world cricket at present and is slowly starting to climb the ladder in terms of being among the all-time best. Due to the manner in which Kohli has been batting over the past few years, comparisons have often been drawn between him and 'Master Blaster' Sachin Tendulkar.
While it is certainly not fair on both of them to be pitted against each other, one cannot help but find a few similarities between the two. Virat Kohli still has a long way to go but there are a few facts about his career so far which put him side-by-side with the legendary Indian batsman.
Here are 5 prominent similarities between Kohli and Tendulkar:
Debut for India in their teens
Sachin Tendulkar made his international debut at the age of 16 against Pakistan in the year 1989 when he was included in the Indian Test team. Virat Kohli too, was a teenager when his career kicked off in an ODI against Sri Lanka as a 19-year old.
Both Kohli and Tendulkar did not play too much first-class cricket before being drafted into the Indian side and made their respective debuts at an early age. The difference was only in terms of the format in which they represented the national team.
However, it will be very interesting to see if Virat Kohli can emulate the longevity aspect of Sachin Tendulkar's illustrious career.
Love affair with Australia
From what has transpired in Virat Kohli's international career so far, it is quite evident that he is at his best when pitted against the Australian team. However, before Kohli came around, Sachin Tendulkar was the man who stood up for Team India against the Aussies.
Both Kohli and Tendulkar have been exceptional against Australia, irrespective of the format, and the proof lies in their records. Kohli averages close to 61 against them in Tests and 55.66 in ODI cricket. Sachin, on the other hand, has an average of 55 against the Aussies in Tests and slightly under 45 in ODIs.
Similarly, both of them came to prominence as Test batsmen by performing well on a tour to Australia - Tendulkar in the 1991/92 season and Kohli in the 2011/12 season.
Mainstays of the Indian batting
Almost throughout the duration of his legendary career, Sachin Tendulkar was the mainstay of the Indian batting line-up. India had some good batsmen in the team when he came in and continued to have even greater batsmen as Tendulkar's career progressed. However, despite this, he remained the man opposition teams feared most.
Virat Kohli appears to have assumed a similar role in the current Indian setup. Even as the batting order boasts of a number of good players, Kohli is the one whom teams want to dismiss as early as possible.
And just like the team often capitulated after Sachin's dismissal back then, Virat Kohli's wicket also sends shivers into the rest of the Indian batting on quite a few occasions.
Struggle against South Africa in ODI cricket
If there was one team against whom Sachin Tendulkar was not at his fluent best, particularly in ODIs, it has to be South Africa. As much as he enjoyed batting against teams like Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and the West Indies, Tendulkar often found the going a little tough against the Proteas.
Against a career average of 44.83, the legend averaged slightly under 36 against South Africa. Virat Kohli appears to have followed his idol's footsteps in this regard as his ODI average against the South Africans is 39.68 compared to a career average of more than 51.
However, there is a possibility that Kohli may be able to improve on this aspect of his batting in the years to come.
Excelling at the No. 4 position in Tests
Even though Sachin Tendulkar has batted at other positions in Test matches, he did make a career out of making runs at the No. 4 position in the batting order for India. Sachin has scored more than 13,000 of his Test runs at the number and averages 54-plus.
It is still early years in Virat Kohli's Test career; however, he has already shown an affinity towards the No. 4 position in the past couple of years. He has scored 1630 runs batting at No. 4 and holds an impressive average of more than 46.
Although it looked impossible at one point to fill Tendulkar's shoes as India's regular No. 4 in Test matches, Kohli has surely raised great hopes of taking over the mantle.
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