“That would raise a lot of eyebrows” - Former pacer chooses between Kohli & Tendulkar for the greatest cricketer ahead of AUS vs IND 2025 ODIs

Former England pacer Steve Harmison regarded Virat Kohli as the greatest cricketer in the last 20 to 30 years ahead of India's ODI series against Australia. The Men in Blue will play three ODIs Down Under in October. Kohli has been picked in the one-day squad and will return to action in international cricket.

Steve Harmison placed Kohli over the legendary Sachin Tendulkar. While he reckoned that it would raise a lot of eyebrows, he reasoned that Kohli had dealt with a lot more stuff off the field in the modern-day game. However, Kohli's numbers in ODIs have been exceptional despite everything that has happened around him.

He has played 302 games and has amassed 14181 runs at an average of 57.88 with 51 hundreds and 74 half-centuries.

"I put Virat Kohli at number one over Sachin Tendulkar, and that would raise a lot of eyebrows. But I thought his career, and what he had to do in his career, was I thought the way the game changed over the course of this last ten years, Virat's had to have deal with a hell of a lot more off the field stuff that would affect him on the field. I think for me, in the last 20-30 years, the greatest cricketer that has played the game, you take Shane Warne out, because he had come a lot before, I think it's Virat Kohli," Harmison said on talkSPORT Cricket.

Further, the former England pacer also reckoned that Kohli was at the centre of the identity built around the Indian ODI side. He reflected that Kohli was more in the faces of the opposition.

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India could suffer a heavy knockout without Virat Kohli at the 2027 ODI World Cup, reckons Harmison

There has been constant speculation around Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's place in the side for the 2027 ODI World Cup. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar stated that players would have to participate in domestic cricket whenever available to present their case for selection.

Kohli last played 50-over domestic cricket over a decade ago, while Rohit did in 2018. Harmison reflected that the reason they never played domestic cricket later on was because of the amount of international cricket that they played.

"We've got to remember, these guys haven't played since 2013 and 2018 respectively, because they have been playing non-stop India. The amount of cricket they play, you look at Virat's career numbers, he made his debut in 2008-2009. The reason why they haven't played since then is that they have been constantly on the road with India," he said.

Harmison particularly reckoned that India could suffer a heavy knockout if they went into the 2027 ODI World Cup without Kohli.

"If Agarkar's looking for a fight, he might get one but he's not going to win unfortunately. This is not going the distance. This could be a heavy knock out in the first round if he tries to go in especially without Virat," he reckoned.

Kohli has an outstanding record in ODIs. He has scored 8064 runs in the format while chasing alone. These runs have come at an average of 64 with 28 hundreds and 41 half-centuries.