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The Cristiano Ronaldo-Lionel Messi debate might never be settled. No duo has dominated football as these two have over the past decade and a half. Ronaldo and Messi have won a whopping 12 Ballon d'Or awards between them.
At the peak of their powers, they played for arch-rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona and went toe-to-toe for all available honors. Football fans have relentlessly debated over who the better player is among the two and it's almost impossible to differentiate between the two.
Naturally, celebrities and sporting personalities get drawn into the debate as well. Several cricketers have been asked to choose between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Without further ado, let's take a look at five Indian cricketers who chose between Ronaldo and Messi.
#5 Devdutt Padikkal (Cristiano Ronaldo)
Young opening batsman Devdutt Padikkal picked up the Emerging Player Award in the 2020 Indian Premier League. He was playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the time but has since switched to Rajasthan Royals.
Padikkal made his T20I debut for the Indian cricket team against Sri Lanka on 28 July 2021. He is expected to have a bright future in the game. In an interview and gameshow with ESPN Cricinfo, Padikkal was asked to choose between Ronaldo and Messi.
A lifelong Manchester United fan, Padikkal had no hesitation in picking Ronaldo over Messi. He was asked if he chose Ronaldo as he was a fan of the Red Devils, to which he replied, "Yeah."
#4 Shreyas Iyer (Cristiano Ronaldo)
Shreyas Iyer is one of the rising stars of the current crop of Indian cricketers. The 27-year-old is also the captain of IPL side Kolkata Knight Riders and is an extremely talented middle-order batsman.
In a question & answer session on Twitter, a random fan asked Shreyas Iyer to pick between Ronaldo and Messi. Iyer responded immediately by tweeting, "Ronaldo."
#3 Dinesh Karthik (Lionel Messi)
Dinesh Karthik is one of the best wicket-keeper bastmen India has ever produced. He has made a return to the Indian T20 side at the age of 37 and is one of the best finishers in the format.
Prior to the second T20 international between India and South Africa in the recently concluded tournament, Karthik was asked to choose between Ronaldo and Messi. He responded by saying:
"Messi. He is slightly different. I enjoyed watching him whatever little I have watched of him so far."
#2 Virat Kohli (Cristiano Ronaldo)
Virat Kohli is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time. During his prime, he was simply unstoppable and thoroughly punished bowlers with his superior shot-making ability and unwavering focus.
Kohli was dominant in all formats of the game and played a crucial role in making India the team to beat in international cricket.
In an interview with Kevin Pietersen in 2014, Kohli was asked to choose between Ronaldo and Messi. He said:
"Lionel Messi is a freak, absolute natural talent, and his ability is second to none. For me, what stands out is the ability or the will to put in the effort in every single minute of the game. Cristiano Ronaldo’s drive separates him from everyone else. Playing at the top level, everyone has talent, but I don’t think anyone has the will that he has."
Ronaldo was so chuffed he even thanked Kohli via Twitter.
#1 Sachin Tendulkar (Lionel Messi)
Sachin Tendulkar is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time. Tendulkar is an avid follower of football and co-owned Indian Super League side Kerala Blasters till 2018.
In an interview with American journalist Graham Bensinger (via Goal) earlier this year, even the legendary cricketer was asked to choose between Ronaldo and Messi. He responded:
"Messi is more of my type."
Both Tendulkar and Messi are known for their elegance on the field and have also been considered to be 'naturally gifted'. That way, it makes a lot of sense that Tendulkar picked Messi over Ronaldo and said that the Argentinian is more his type.
