Virat Kohli slammed an unbeaten hundred (100 off 111) to script India’s six-wicket victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in a Champions Trophy match in Dubai on Sunday (February 23).
It was his 51st century in the 50-over format. With this knock, he also became the fastest batter to reach the milestone of 14,000 ODI runs, surpassing the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara.
No wonder, the discussions about Kohli versus Tendulkar are once again making the headlines. Recently, former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar shared his two cents on this debate.
Speaking on the 'Dressing Room' show, Gavaskar refused to draw comparisons, saying that he "will never compare eras".
"I will never compare eras because, you know, playing conditions are different, the pitches are different, the opposition is different. So it is very difficult to compare people. But that is only a weakness, if I might call it a weakness, amongst the subcontinent -- our comparisons," said Gavaskar.
"We will always compare players. Have you ever seen anybody asking 'is Ricky Ponting a better player than Gregg Chappell?'...Nobody. Just accept the current players as they are. There is no comparison. It only happens in the subcontinent. We are all the time comparing," he added.
Sachin Tendulkar is widely regarded as one of the greatest batters of all time. Fondly known as the Master Blaster, Tendulkar represented India in 200 Tests and 463 ODIs, scoring the record number of runs (15921 in Tests and 18426 in ODIs). He also has a record 100 international centuries to his name, including 51 in Tests.
At present, Virat Kohli has 82 international hundreds to his name, including 30 in Tests and 1 in T20Is. His tally of runs currently stands at 27,503.
