“Goli se dar nahin lagta, Kohli se dar lagta hai (don’t get scared of a bullet. but get scared of Kohli),” former India cricketer Virender Sehwag, who was in his element addressing the media, said it was unfair to compare Virat Kohli with Sachin Tendulkar.
With two hundreds already in this IPL and achieving a populist epithet ‘run machine’, Kohli’s superlative performance with the bat has seen experts compare him to Tendulkar. While some may find the comparison odious, others have welcomed the debate.
“Nobody should compare two cricketers. People compare me with Tendulkar and Viv Richards, that’s not fair. Those cricketers belong to different eras,” Sehwag, who feels Kohli is one of the most dangerous batsmen in T20, said at an event organised by 92.7 Big FM, on Wednesday.
Currently the mentor of Kings XI Punjab, the ‘Sultan of Multan’ has been disappointed with KXIP’s performance in the IPL.
Punjab are languishing at the bottom of the points table, having lost seven of their 10 matches.
“Last season, we were at the bottom of the table and this time too it’s no different. I really wished we had won close matches this time, but it is a process that we are going through and hopefully in the next season we can form a better team,” Sehwag added.
While the former Delhi Daredevils skipper was impressed with youngsters in his XI, he pointed out that the overseas players have been a let down this season.
Punjab had a horrific start to their campaign this year. Miller was the first casualty the team suffered after the South African was axed as skipper.
Sehwag, while praising newly-chosen captain Murali Vijay, said the move was in the interest of the team. “Miller also was not performing well as a batsman and we thought if we give the captaincy to somebody else then Miller can play as a batsman and score runs.
“There is a certain quality in Vijay, he has got the confidence and also scored two fifties. Vijay understands a captain’s role, how he can motivate the team and contribute,” Sehwag said.
