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Since making his international debut for India against Sri Lanka in August 2008, Kohli has played 550 matches across formats and has scored 27,599 runs.
Kane Williamson picks greatest cricketer of this century. (Picture Credit: PTI)
Former New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has ignored batting superstar Virat Kohli to pick a former Indian captain and star batter as the greatest cricketer of this century. Williamson, who is the all-time leading run scorer in international cricket for the Black Caps, was asked to name the greatest cricketer of the 21st century during an ESPNcricinfo show, and in reply he mentioned Sachin Tendulkar’s name.
Tendulkar played a total of 200 Tests, 463 ODIs and 1 T20I for Team India during his 24-year-long international career and scored more than 34,000 runs in addition to taking up 201 wickets. He still holds the record for being the most capped player and all-time leading run scorer in the Test and one-day formats of the game.
In the Indian Premier League, Tendulkar joined the Mumbai Indians as an icon player ahead of the first-ever mega auctions and played six seasons for them, during which he scored 2334 runs in 78 matches.
During the show, the 34-year-old right-handed batter from Tauranga was also asked about his most memorable moment in cricket, and he picked Kiwi’s 2021 WTC final win over India.
“Personally, my most memorable moment would be the inaugural (World) Test Championship final that we (New Zealand) were involved in,” Williamson said.
In the final of the 2021 WTC, New Zealand defeated India by 8 wickets at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Southampton.
Williamson has played in four ODI World Cups for the Black Caps since making his international debut against India in 2010, and for him, the 50-over mega event is still the biggest event in cricket.
“The biggest event, I still think, is the ODI World Cup.”
In the 2019 ODI World Cup, Williamson led New Zealand to the final, but his team failed to lift the title and finished as runners-up. However, for his super show with the bat in the tournament played in England and Wales, he won the Player of the Tournament award. In the 2023 ODI World Cup, Williamson played four matches for the two-time losing finalists and, with the help of three fifties, scored 256 runs.
