In every sport, the most heated debates ofte take place over determining who is the best player of all time. Cricket is no different, especially in India where the sport is no less than a religion.
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Ever since he burst on the scene, India star Virat Kohli has been compared to Sachin Tendulkar, who is nicknamed the 'God' of cricket and widely regarded as one of the best players of all time, if not the best. Several of his records still stand today, but there are many others that Kohli himself has broken.
Virat Kohli or Sachin Tendulkar? Former England star picks best-ever Indian batsman across all formats
Former England star David Lloyd waded into the debate on Thursday, as he was asked to pick who he thought India's greatest batter across all-formats was; Kohli or Tendulkar. Speaking on TalkSport, Lloyd said,
In cricket, different eras have different sets of challenges. If the 1970s and 1980s, Sunil Gavaskar faced some of the most dangerous and fearsome fast bowlers the game produced – Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson and the famous quartet of the West Indies – the 1990s were about Tendulkar facing the likes of Wasim Akram, Glenn McGrath, Allan Donald, Chaminda Vaas.
You name it and the 1990s and early 2000s had them all. Not to say that today's bowlers aren't of the same pedigree, but with two new balls, field restrictions and Powerplay, is the balance between the bat and ball as even as it was back in the day? Well, opinions will always remain divided.
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After presenting his case, Lloyd went on to say that he would undoubtedly pick Tendulkar in an Ultimate Test XI, but in all-formats he would have to select Kohli as the latter has played T20 cricket consistently, as well as kept up with the hard demands of the modern era.
He said, "Sachin was sublime. All is right with the world, but I like a bit of rock and roll. We're talking about two of the greatest players there's ever been. We're trying to look at T20s and ODIs, you could easily go for Kohli."
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| Matches | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | High Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | 200 | 15921 | 53.8 | - | 248* |
| ODIs | 463 | 18426 | 44.8 | 86.2 | 200* |
| T20Is | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 83.3 | 10 |
| Matches | Runs | Average | Strike Rate | High Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | 113 | 8848 | 49.2 | 55.6 | 254* |
| ODIs | 292 | 13848 | 58.7 | 93.6 | 183 |
| T20Is | 117 | 4037 | 51.8 | 138.2 | 122* |
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