Internet Desk: Virat Kohli’s phenomenal knock while chasing against Australia in the Super 10 match of ICC World T20 at Mohali on Sunday have raised the debate whether he is a better finisher than Tendulkar. Virat scored a match winning 82 runs off 51 balls to guide India to the semi finals of World T20.
Both Tendulkar and Kohli (so far in his career) have been tremendous for India. But when it comes to chasing targets and winning matches for India then Kohli will have a slight edge over his illustrious senior. So far in his career Kohli has guided India to victory on 13 occasions where he has scored a century; leave aside his numerous cameos that have laid the platform for an Indian win. Virat has shown his knack of finishing games. Sachin, arguably the best batsman in the modern era has failed to see India through on numerous occasions.
Former captain and batting legend Sourav Ganguly has gone on record to say that Virat Kohli is better than Sachin ‘God’ Tendulkar when it came to chasing. Ganguly added, “Kohli is the greatest chaser by far and I am saying this keeping in mind the great man Sachin Tendulkar. Sachin was special but as far as chasing is concerned, Kohli has done better than Sachin. Kohli is unreal.”
Another great Indian batsman VVS Laxman feel the same, “I was fortunate enough to play alongside Sachin when he played the knock of 143 against Australia at Sharjah and at the same time I was fortunate to watch the innings of Kohli from the commentary box on Sunday. Both Sachin and Virat have done well against Australia but Kohli’s record is better and brutal.”
Kohli has now scored 281 runs at a strike rate of 160.6 in the year 2016. He has an amazing consistency this year scoring 4 fifty plus scores. The fifty that he scored against Australia on Sunday was also his 10th fifty in a run chase.
Let us now look at 5 best innings of Kohli where India chased down a target successfully.
82* off 51 balls vs Australia, Mohali: The crowds at Mohali witnessed one of the best T20 innings while chasing. India was chasing a score of 161 in a virtually knock-out match for both the teams. India at point required 39 runs off 18 balls and was looking down the barrel. But it was Virat’s superlative knock of 82 not out off 51 balls that helped India beat Australia by 6 wickets.
55* off 37 balls vs Pakistan, Kolkata: Chasing 119 on an Eden Gardens track that seemed dual-paced, India lost their top three batsmen early only to see Kohli and Yuvraj Singh put together a 61-run, fourth-wicket partnership to help the hosts canter home in 15.5 overs in a game reduced to 18 overs a side because of rain. Virat scored an unbeaten half century as India cruised to a comfortable six-wicket victory over arch rivals Pakistan in the Super 10 match of ICC World T20.
49 off 51 balls vs Pakistan, Mirpur: Indian bowlers were on fire as the bowled out Pakistan for a paltry 83 with Hardik Pandya taking three wickets for 8 runs. Mohammad Amir scalped three wickets early to give India a massive jolt in the chase. Virat Kohli, however, smashes 49 off 51 balls while Yuvraj Singh hit an unbeaten 14 off 32 balls to give India their second consecutive win in the Asia Cup 2016.
133* vs Sri Lanka, Hobart: India’s tour to Australia in 2011-12 was largely disappointing but it was also the coming-of-age tour of Kohli. The tour saw Kohli go from being a promising young batsman to the lynchpin of India’s middle order. India needed to chase down whatever Sri Lanka scored in less than 40 overs to stand a chance of qualifying for the final. Unfortunately for India, Sri Lanka ended up getting 320 for 4 courtesy of centuries from Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara. India started their chase brilliantly, with Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar batting at a superb strike rate. Gautam Gambhir came in and scored a vital half-century as well, but the star of the show was Kohli. He scored a brilliant 133* to see India through in the Commonwealth Bank tri-series match at Hobart.
183 vs Pakistan, Asia Cup 2012, Dhaka,: India did not reach the final of the tri-series in Australia, but in his very next tournament Kohli one-upped himself. Set a target of 330 runs to win against Pakistan in the Asia Cup, India lost Gambhir in the second ball of their innings. Kohli and Tendulkar — playing the final match of his ODI career — went about repairing the innings. Rohit Sharma scored a crucial 68 after that as well, but it was Kohli who led India home. Kohli scored a tremendous 183 off a mere 148 balls with 22 fours and a six.
Now, let us have a look at 5most prominent failures of Sachin while India was chasing a target.
136 vs Pakistan, Chennai: A match that will continue to be remembered for the master blaster as that moment of inconsolable heartbreak, in spite of the many monumental feats of his willow before and since. Sachin scored a century (136) against arch rivals Pakistan in Chennai but could not guide India through. His back-pain prevailed him. When Sachin was out for 136, India could not handle the pressure and lost the test match by 12 runs. If Sachin was there till the end who knows India could have won the match. This was a perfect example of Sachin’s failure as a finisher.
65 vs Sri Lanka, Kolkata: The controversial semi final match of the 1996 World Cup match played at the Eden Gardens. Chasing a target of 252 runs against a spirited Sri Lanka, India was cruising with Sachin batting confidently on 65. But a vital stumping by Kaluwitharana off Jayasuriya dashed India’s hopes of making it to a second World Cup final.
4 vs Australia in 2003 World Cup final, Johannesburg: The whole nation was looking towards Tendulkar in the final of the 2003 World Cup against Australia. The master blaster was going through a great form in the tournament. Chasing a huge total of 360 India lost the wicket of Tendulkar in the very first over of the match going for an unnecessary pull shot off McGrath after hitting the previous ball for a boundary. He left the nation stunned as they had high hopes on the Master Blaster. He could not carry India through.
4 vs West Indies in 3rd Test, Barbados: India was chasing a score of just 119 runs in the fourth innings to win the test match at Barbados. But they were bundled out for an embarrassing 81 runs against the pace battery of Ambrose, Bishop and Rose losing the match by 38 runs. Sachin was out cheaply caught in the slips by Lara off Bishop going for a rash shot outside off stump.
175 vs Australia, Hyderabad: Sachin failed to see India through against the Aussies in spite of playing a scintillating knock of 175 runs. Chasing a mammoth target of 351 runs, India failed short by 3 runs. Tendulkar had a great opportunity to see India through at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium in Hyderabad.
It is difficult to compare batsman of different era as it is definitely not fair. But given the recent heroics of Kohli while chasing, he definitely is a better finisher than Tendulkar.