Sachin Tendulkar vs Virat Kohli: Ricky Ponting shares his opinion

Sachin Tendulkar vs Virat Kohli: Former Australian captain weighs in on the comparison between the two Indian cricketers.

With each passing day, Indian captain Virat Kohli is rising up the ranks in terms of breaking numerous batting records. Irrespective of the format which Kohli turns up in, there are records up for grabs, an opportunity which the 30-year old cricketer rarely lets go of.

Amid this spree of achieving records day in and day out, it is practically unstoppable for fans and former cricketers to compare him with Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar. The comparison usually takes the route of several arguments between the two groups involved without a final result.

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting was asked about the same at a recent event. Ponting, who has been part of several tightly-fought matches against India comprising of Tendulkar, praised the Master Blaster for his longevity in cricket.

Ponting laid emphasis on Tendulkar’s 24-year international career which is the almost two times than Kohli 10-year career at this point in time. The Australian appreciated Kohli for his domination across formats in the modern times but seemed to be inclined towards the batsman of his era.

“Comparisons are always hard to make at this stage of Virat’s [Kohli] career. Let’s wait and see if he can play 200 Test matches and let’s see how well he’s playing at the end of 200 Test matches.

“You’ll remember Sachin when he was finishing up. No one remembers Sachin at his absolute best. And he probably wasn’t the player when he finished as he was in the middle of his career,” Ponting was quoted as saying.

Ponting was of the opinion that fans should wait for the time when Kohli will retire from all forms of the game for only then will everyone be in a better position to compare both the legendary cricketers. “Everyone is seeing Virat now at the peak of his powers and doing some quite exceptional things.

“It’s one thing to dominate international sport for a short period of time. But if you can dominate your sport for 10-15 years, I think that’s the sign of a real champions player. Let’s see how Virat’s career goes and by the end he’s finished, you can start comparing. I think before that, it’s unfair on both,” Ponting added.

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