Former India opener Virender Sehwag has said that it is unfair to compare Virat Kohli with the batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar as the latter has set a very high benchmark for everyone to follow.
"I don't feel it is right to compare Kohli with Tendulkar. It will be logical only if he is able to achieve the numerous records (200 Tests, more than 30,000 international runs etc.) set by Sachin. Every player including Virat wants to reach the benchmark of 100 international hundreds set by Sachin so he will try to do the same," Sehwag told India TV.
"He (Kohli) can do it as he has the talent and the hunger required to achieve these milestones. It becomes clear after you see the way he prepares and focuses on each match disregarding whatever happened in the previous one," he added.
Kohli notched up his 23rd Test century during the Trent Bridge Test to help India register a thumping 203-run victory over England. With this innings, Virat also became India’s highest scorer as captain in Tests outside India as he surpassed Sourav Ganguly’s 1693 runs. The Indian captain now has 58 centuries to his name in international cricket.
Virat also crossed the 400-run mark in this series, becoming only the second Indian captain after Mohammad Azharuddin (426) to do so against England. Overall, he is the sixth Indian batsman to achieve this feat.
Seeing the way Kohli buried the demons of his previous England tour in this series, Sehwag termed the Delhi lad as the best batsman in the world today irrespective of the format.
"A player becomes great only if he prepares well for each and every game. Today there is no one better than him in all three formats. He is an inspiration for players around the world. Even international players, when I talk to them in IPL, they talk about Kohli and his successful method," Sehwag concluded.
With two Tests still to go, it will be interesting to see how many runs Virat manages to add in his already astonishing tally. While Southampton will host the fourth Test from August 30, the fifth and final Test will be played at The Oval from September 7.
