Virat Kohli better than Sachin Tendulkar because of his chasing prowess, reckons Kevin Pietersen
Kevin Pietersen calls Kohli better than Tendulkar
|BCCI
Kevin Pietersen has opined that Virat Kohli is better than Sachin, purely because of his outrageous chasing numbers, significantly better than that of the yesteryear star. Pietersen also added that Steve Smith is in no way comparable or even close to the Indian star, despite being No.1 Test batsman.
The comparison between Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli is a never-ending one, with both the Indian stars putting up gigantic numbers on the statistics board. While the 47-year-old called time on his career in 2013, with 100 International hundreds, the 31-year-old Kohli is fast chasing his records.Â
In Kohli’s time with the Indian team, the right-hander has already scored 70 centuries across formats, leading the team over the line on multiple occasions. However, despite the startling difference in terms of numbers, former English batsmen Kevin Pietersen reckoned that the Indian captain is better than Sachin.Â
The Englishman's reasoning for that comes down to the fact that the 31-year-old has better numbers across the board when it comes to chasing down a score. In just the 50-over format, Kohli has scored 7039 runs, at an average of 68.33 while having scored 26 centuries when the team has batted last. In comparison, Sachin has scored 8720 runs, coming in 232 innings, at an average of 42.33.Â
"Again, Virat because of his chasing numbers. His chasing numbers are frightening, he averages more than 80 when it comes to chasing, he consistently wins games for India, he keeps on turning the numbers, and this matters to me as to how many games you win for your country," Pietersen told Pommie Mbangwa on an Instagram Live, reported TOI.Â
On the other hand, the 39-year-old revealed that Australian batsman Steve Smith does not come anywhere close to the Indian star in terms of handling the pressure.Â
"Kohli is a freakshow, his record chasing winning games for India with the amount of pressure he lives under, Smith does not even come close to him," he added.Â
