Being born in India of the early 80's, my cricketing heroes were definitely Kapil, Sachin, Dravid, Kumble, Ganguly, Yuvraj, Zaheer and till lately Dhoni. I was not born when India won the 1983 world cup against the mighty West Indies of that time, but I did grew up watching the 1992 world cup waking at 3 in the morning to catch the telecast from Australia. That was the time when I saw some mighty players challenging each other and the ones that sustained, became legends.
The 1992 world cup created a lot of legends - Wasim and Waqar as a pace combo became inscribed in history. Martin Crowe became New Zealand's greatest opening batsman, young Sachin's class was proven on foreign pitches, Jhonty redefined fielding standards and many more names that deserve a mention in cricketing almanacs and that defined modern day cricket, emerged in 1992
Then in 1996, the underdogs Sri Lanka showed the world how to play the first 15 overs with field restrictions on. Yes during that time it was continuously for 15 overs. This changed the shape of ODI cricket. Post the world cup, Australia suddenly grew in stature and was winning every game that they were playing. In the sub-continent and the famous stadium of Sharjah, heroics of the Little Master were winning hearts. Far west in the Caribbeans, Brian Charles Lara was taking Test batting to new heights and Pakistan was as usual producing deadly fast bowlers with Shoaib crossing the 100 miles mark.
The highest chase by South Africa against Australia, India's test win in Calcutta (Kolkata) and the famous Nattwest final against England with heroics of Yuvraj and Kaif, emergence of the T20 cricket, Australia's record of 3 straight world cup victories, controversial 2007 world cup and the inaugural T20 world cup changed the face of the game. It also witnessed the emergence of the controversial yet highly popular IPL which was again won by an underdog team in its opening edition.
During this time a new talent emerged in India in the name of Virat Kohli. An aggressive and talented player with great fitness levels and a very strong will. He was sometimes termed over aggressive, but this has worked in his favor when someone looks at his statistics. Easy Sailing to Records in some respect a right heading for this article. Somehow, Kohli's journey has been 'easier' compared to his predecessors. He is being compared to many legends, but I am here to list down certain things that I believe make him an excellent player, but not a legend though. He has his records, but playing against whom and playing under whom is an important factor.
His big comparison is done with Sachin Tendulkar and in the recent past since he is crossing the 100 run mark very frequently, this comparison has become hotter. My rationale why Sachin is greater will basically open list of laurels for The Little Master.
Whom Sachin faced? *just listing down the top bowlers from each country- IN THEIR PRIME
Australia: Craig Mcdermot, Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee, Shane Warne
Pakistan: Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Saqlain Mushtaq, Shoaib Akhtar, Mushtaq Ahmed
England: Ashley Giles, Darren Gough
New Zealand: Chris Cairns, Shane Bond, Daneil Vettori
West Indies: Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose
Zimbabwe: Heath Streak
South Africa: Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Jaques Kallis, Fannie deVilliers, Makhaya Ntini, Lance Klusener
Sri Lanka: Muttaiaah Murlitharan, Chaminda Vaas
If we take a look at this list again, and the prevailing rules during in the 90's and early 2000's; would you believe that Virat would have had a similar record he has now? Would he have faced Wasim in the same way he faces Mohd Amir? Well he has struggled against Amir, what would have happened in front of Wasim - I leave it to your imagination!!
Would he have scored with same freedom against Ambrose bowling to his chest?
And we are not even talking about the match fixing events and the turmoil the Indian team underwent in that era.
I really do not mean here to state that Kohli has not worked hard, but definitely he has not yet had a fitting opposition.
He has also predominantly played under and along Dhoni who is one of the most astute cricketing brains I have seen, and would rate him equal to Clive Lloyd or Imran Khan for that quality.
I love Kohli's cover drive, but I loved the Dravid version more. I love his pull shot, but haven't seen him playing the straight drive with same panache. He fights, yet there is something about Laxman's version that goes down in the history. He dominates bowlers, but the bowlers aren't as afraid of him as they were of Viru.
He is doing good, and sailing on to records very quickly. When he retires he will be among the GREATS of CRICKET.
But will he be a LEGEND? I doubt that!!
The 1992 world cup created a lot of legends - Wasim and Waqar as a pace combo became inscribed in history. Martin Crowe became New Zealand's greatest opening batsman, young Sachin's class was proven on foreign pitches, Jhonty redefined fielding standards and many more names that deserve a mention in cricketing almanacs and that defined modern day cricket, emerged in 1992
Then in 1996, the underdogs Sri Lanka showed the world how to play the first 15 overs with field restrictions on. Yes during that time it was continuously for 15 overs. This changed the shape of ODI cricket. Post the world cup, Australia suddenly grew in stature and was winning every game that they were playing. In the sub-continent and the famous stadium of Sharjah, heroics of the Little Master were winning hearts. Far west in the Caribbeans, Brian Charles Lara was taking Test batting to new heights and Pakistan was as usual producing deadly fast bowlers with Shoaib crossing the 100 miles mark.
The highest chase by South Africa against Australia, India's test win in Calcutta (Kolkata) and the famous Nattwest final against England with heroics of Yuvraj and Kaif, emergence of the T20 cricket, Australia's record of 3 straight world cup victories, controversial 2007 world cup and the inaugural T20 world cup changed the face of the game. It also witnessed the emergence of the controversial yet highly popular IPL which was again won by an underdog team in its opening edition.
During this time a new talent emerged in India in the name of Virat Kohli. An aggressive and talented player with great fitness levels and a very strong will. He was sometimes termed over aggressive, but this has worked in his favor when someone looks at his statistics. Easy Sailing to Records in some respect a right heading for this article. Somehow, Kohli's journey has been 'easier' compared to his predecessors. He is being compared to many legends, but I am here to list down certain things that I believe make him an excellent player, but not a legend though. He has his records, but playing against whom and playing under whom is an important factor.
His big comparison is done with Sachin Tendulkar and in the recent past since he is crossing the 100 run mark very frequently, this comparison has become hotter. My rationale why Sachin is greater will basically open list of laurels for The Little Master.
Whom Sachin faced? *just listing down the top bowlers from each country- IN THEIR PRIME
Australia: Craig Mcdermot, Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee, Shane Warne
Pakistan: Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Saqlain Mushtaq, Shoaib Akhtar, Mushtaq Ahmed
England: Ashley Giles, Darren Gough
New Zealand: Chris Cairns, Shane Bond, Daneil Vettori
West Indies: Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose
Zimbabwe: Heath Streak
South Africa: Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Jaques Kallis, Fannie deVilliers, Makhaya Ntini, Lance Klusener
Sri Lanka: Muttaiaah Murlitharan, Chaminda Vaas
If we take a look at this list again, and the prevailing rules during in the 90's and early 2000's; would you believe that Virat would have had a similar record he has now? Would he have faced Wasim in the same way he faces Mohd Amir? Well he has struggled against Amir, what would have happened in front of Wasim - I leave it to your imagination!!
Would he have scored with same freedom against Ambrose bowling to his chest?
And we are not even talking about the match fixing events and the turmoil the Indian team underwent in that era.
I really do not mean here to state that Kohli has not worked hard, but definitely he has not yet had a fitting opposition.
He has also predominantly played under and along Dhoni who is one of the most astute cricketing brains I have seen, and would rate him equal to Clive Lloyd or Imran Khan for that quality.
I love Kohli's cover drive, but I loved the Dravid version more. I love his pull shot, but haven't seen him playing the straight drive with same panache. He fights, yet there is something about Laxman's version that goes down in the history. He dominates bowlers, but the bowlers aren't as afraid of him as they were of Viru.
He is doing good, and sailing on to records very quickly. When he retires he will be among the GREATS of CRICKET.
But will he be a LEGEND? I doubt that!!
Very nice.
ReplyDeleteVery nice
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete