Virat Kohli vs Sachin Tendulkar: A statistical comparison at the age of 29

Kohli is well on course to obliterating all ODI records

While Kohli still has to comprehensively prove himself in the whites, one-day internationals present a completely different story.

Sachin Tendulkar is inarguably the greatest ODI batsman of all-time, yet the manner in which Kohli has been batting in the game’s intermediate format has forced even the staunchest of Little Master supporters to frown a tad.

As the end of 2017 approaches, Kohli seems well on course to obliterating Sachin’s once seemingly insurmountable tally of 49 ODI tons, having moved to second on the all-time list.

Tendulkar had a sub-standard ODI record for the first five years of his career, failing to bring home even one hundred in 76 attempts. The jinx was finally broken in September 1994, as a promotion up the order, against New Zealand early in the year, was a master-stroke that galvanised him to unleash his naturally attacking game in the initial overs, and pace his innings better.

In comparison, five years into his ODI career, Kohli had firmly entrenched himself in the middle-order, especially after a stellar season that saw him hit two huge scores in 2012: one, a breath-taking 133* (86) against Sri Lanka, and the other, a career-best 183 in the Asia Cup against Pakistan, in a game that was, incidentally, Tendulkar’s final ODI for India.

A major feature of Sachin’s career was his contribution in big events: the Master Blaster had, by the age of 29, played three World Cups (1992, 1996, 1999), as opposed to Kohli’s tally of two, averaging 58.83 from 22 games with three centuries under his belt.

Sachin scored nine ODI centuries in 1998

The year 1998, for him, was the golden streak of brilliance: the Desert Storm was just one of many masterclasses from the Little Master that year, equivalent to Kohli’s form in 2016. Tendulkar blasted a jaw-dropping nine ODI centuries that year, and truly turned a leaf in his career.

Tendulkar, at 29, had compiled these figures:

Matches - 287

Runs - 11,069

Average - 43.92

Strike-rate - 86.66

Highest score- 186*

100s - 31

50s - 55

Kohli, on the other hand, currently has these numbers:

Matches - 202

Runs - 9030

Average - 55.74

Strike-rate - 91.73

Highest score- 183

100s - 32

50s - 45

The 2013 series at home against Australia, where Kohli helped himself to two ODI hundreds and received the Test captaincy the very next year, buoyed him further, even as he took to a cleaner fitness schedule to become a top-notch player.

2016 was a watershed year for Kohli: as he settled in his role as a young team’s leader, his responsibilities increased, further accentuating his game as one who thrived under pressure. Records started falling with each passing game, and by 2017, with captaincy of all three formats on him, he averages over 55 in the format.

His average is above 45 in every Test-playing country, despite encountering a brief dip in 2015, similar to Tendulkar’s numbers in 2000.

At the age of 29, Kohli is neck-to-neck with Tendulkar when it comes to hundreds in the ODI format: while the Master Blaster had 31 tons from 287 games (a ratio of 9.25 ODIs per hundred), Kohli already has 32 from only 202 games (ratio 6.31, one of the best in the world).

The team composition was different for Tendulkar post-2002: several match-winners cropped up, giving him more space to play his game. A debilitating tennis elbow injury, however, seemed to have sworn to cut short his brilliant career, but he fought hard, went away from the game, and returned: measured and calculated in his strokepla, but equally effective.

The future holds even greater promise for Kohli: the second leg of his career will be with a team that is shaping itself to realise the collective dream of winning the World Cup in England.

However, when he embarks into the dreaded ‘late-30s’, Kohli might have to deal with slowing limbs, sluggish reflexes, and, perhaps, a change of role in the team. How he re-invents himself, holds the key to how his final numbers stack up.

If Kohli continues his splendid form in the run-up to the marquee tournament in 2019, and manages to maintain his ultra-shredded physique for the next decade, the passing of the baton from the heir to the apprentice will be complete, and the honours, for the greatest of all-time, might have to be shared.