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Following a record-extending 51st ODI century, India batting star Virat Kohli is being rated as the greatest one-day batter by several former players.
(From left) Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Sachin Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara (AFP/AP)
With Virat Kohli scoring a record-extending 51st century of his storied ODI career, the debate over the greatest batter in one-day cricket has been reignited. However, there’s a growing consensus among certain former players that Kohli could be the greatest ODI player even surpassing the legendary Sachin Tendulkar.
Former England captain Michael Atherton feels that there’s nobody better than Kohli in ODI history when it comes to run-chases. Kohli has hit 28 centuries during run-chases in ODIs which is the most in history. Tendulkar, with 17 hundreds, is second on this list followed by Rohit Sharma who has 16.
“Virat Kohli in a run-chase in 50-over cricket, there’s been nobody better in the history of the game, really. 51 century is an unbelievable number,” said Atherton on Sky Sports Cricket Podcast.
Kohli’s 51st century came in a Champions Trophy match against Pakistan. He remained unbeaten and during the innings, became the quickest batter to reach 14,000 ODI runs and third overall to do so.
“I mean, he’s (Kohli) got 51 and he passed 14,000 runs, which only Tendulkar and Sangakkara have got past that mark in one-day cricket. And he got them in 60-odd innings quicker than Sachin, and I think about 90-odd innings quicker than Kumar. So, I mean, ODI is probably his best. You know, he’s been a great all-format player, clearly, but you’d probably say that ODI is his absolute best format,” Atherton added.
Another former England captain Nasser Hussain reckoned that Tendulkar, Kumar Sangakkara and AB de Villiers will be part of the greatest ODI player debate but Kohli surpasses them all.
“He’s (Kohli) been an incredible player. Yeah, and you’d have to say probably the best player in ODIs of all time, really, with those stats you mentioned. You’d have Tendulkar in the same conversation. Kumar, you’d have AB de Villiers. They’ve been some great ones, but he’s right at the top of the tree,” Hussain said.
