Not surprised by Virat Kohli’s success, claims Sachin Tendulkar

Virat Kohli endured a tough outing in India’s semifinal encounter against New Zealand where they fell to a disheartening 18-run defeat. The Indian captain was dismissed for one run as India were knocked out of the competition in a narrow loss despite a last-gasp effort from MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja. However, the Indian captain was in good touch in England as he amassed a total of 443 runs from nine games at the quadrennial showpiece.

Former India opener and cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar revealed that he was not surprised by Kohli’s dominance in international cricket over the last five years as the latter currently tops the chart as the number one ODI batsman in the world.

"Virat has always been hungry, always sought to get better. His preparation is good as is his ability to assess situations. The latter quality is critical... What will the opposition do? How will the wicket behave? What will the condition of the ball be like? All that needs to be quickly assessed and Virat is good at doing so... I expected him to do very well and I’m not surprised by his success.

"The numbers were there before me, are there now and will always be there. Sunny Bhai (Sunil Manohar Gavaskar) had the numbers before me and Sir Don before him... Numbers keep changing, but the impression you leave behind stays... It’s the legacy... What Virat is doing in this era is what matters, just like what I did in my era... I played most of my cricket for India when conditions were different... The rules, the boundary lines... I’ve been clear about one thing, though: The guy who overtakes me better be an Indian!," Tendulkar was quoted as saying in a recent interview with The Telegraph.

Tendulkar, who played a key role with the bat in India’s triumphant World Cup victory on home soil in 2011, suggested that the future of Test cricket in the next 20 years is dependent on the quality of pitches.

"Unless Test cricket is played on wickets helpful to bowlers, it will face challenges... To make it exciting, the ball has to beat the bat every over... The wickets matter. If nothing much is happening, how do you expect the crowd to be excited? I’m not suggesting you need a seaming track, it could even be a turning one... Have turning wickets in India and seaming tracks in South Africa," Tendulkar added.