Should Sachin still be the benchmark for Virat Kohli?

Let's get one thing straight. When Virat Kohli said "you should leave India" he was left with not much to fend for himself. It was a slam dunk case where Kohli was wrong. You could try to look at the context, try to look at the tone. Try to argue that the fan used the term "these Indians" which any Indian would find offensive. The Indian skipper, always known to be a passionate individual just couldn't take it and said what he said. Despite that, the captain of the Indian cricket team, the best batsman of his generation should have kept a tab on his words.

But still you've got to ask, would it have created such an uproar had the same comment been passed by someone who wasn't a regular in the Indian set-up? Maybe someone who was the Indian captain or some who wasn't named Virat Kohli? Most likely there would have been a backlash but it would not have stretched to the extent that it did with Kohli.

The reason is maybe that the average Indian fan still uses Sachin as the benchmark for Kohli not only as a cricketer on the field but off the field as well. Sometimes what we forget is that even though Sachin himself was supreme both on and off the field, he would not have faced the kind of scrutiny that a star faces because of the omnipresence they have in this digital world.

Somewhere, the Indian fan needs to understand that Sachin belonged to a completely different generation when compared to Kohli, who belongs to a generation where the youngsters wear their hearts on their sleeves and are not afraid to speak their mind.

On Kohli's part, he needs to keep a tab on what he dishes out through social media. With the World Cup just around the corner, a distraction and a useless controversy would not be the most desirable. Maybe it would be a great idea to filter what he says on social media. And maybe the most important thing, be aware of the implication of his words and what they mean.