Sanjay Bangar Compared Kohli And Tendulkar In ODI: Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Bangar has named his pick of the greatest ODI batters of all time between two Indian greats, Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar.
It is one of the most prominent discussions in modern cricket circles as to who is the greatest batter in the 50+ year history of ODI cricket. There are a lot of names thrown around. The likes of Sir Vivian Richards, Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting, Michael Bevan, and AB de Villiers come to mind.
However, such discussions usually come down to two players. Two Indians that did more than define their generations. They became the global face of cricket and inspired millions to take the sport up, those being Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli.
Check Out: Sanjay Bangar Compared Kohli And Tendulkar In ODIs
This is a fascinating comparison in terms of pure statistics. In a whopping 463 matches played in the format, the ‘God of Cricket’ scored a staggering 18426, the most in ODI cricket. He scored those runs at an average of 44.83 and a strike rate of 86.23, scoring 49 centuries and 96 half-centuries.
As for Virat, he has scored 14085 runs in ODIs, which is the third-most in the format, in 299 matches. He scored those runs at an average of 58.20, which is the highest for a player with over 3000 runs and the second-highest for a player from a Test-playing nation. The ‘King’ has scored a record 51 centuries in the format and 73 half-centuries.
But being the greatest is about much more than stats. It is about how those runs were scored and whether they helped the team win matches. And this is where opinions come in.
Sanjay Bangar Compared Kohli And Tendulkar In ODIs
One such opinion came from Sanjay Bangar, who, after a decent career as an Indian Cricket Team player, has been thriving as a commentator for decades now. In a recent interview with India Today, the 59-year-old compared the two’s legacies in ODI cricket and highlighted how Kohli has been consistently performing in crucial junctures and run chases, saying,
“One major difference between the two is that I think Virat Kohli is a better chaser than Sachin Tendulkar. Tendulkar liked batting first, and Tendulkar perhaps was a certainty that he was not going to get out against the new ball. But it’s about winning matches.”
Manjrekar went on to say that Virat Kohli is better in run chases than Sachin Tendulkar, apart from which the Master Blaster is a complete package.
“Virat will have a number of matches where he has chased down the target and has stayed on till the end. Tendulkar has a few matches but not the numbers that Virat Kohli has. But apart from that, Tendulkar had everything. But one area where Virat Kohli is better than the God of Cricket is chasing runs,” he said.
Virat Kohli will play his 300th ODI match for the Indian Cricket Team in the last Group A match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 against New Zealand. The Men in Blue have already qualified for the semifinals. A major reason for that is Virat’s match-winning 100 against Pakistan in their most recent game.
Check Out: Sanjay Bangar Compared Kohli And Tendulkar In ODIs
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