Kohli vs Tendulkar: Has Virat earned right to enter LEAGUE of EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN

Now that Virat Kohli has finally gone from 70 to 71 centuries, the immediate question in every fan’s mind is whether Kohli can surpass Tendulkar as yet untouchable record of 100 international centuries.

Virat Kohli (left) and Sachin Tendulkar. (Source: Twitter)

Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar are both former Indian captains and for many modern day legends of the game of cricket. Both have carried the weight of India’s expectations in all formats for decades at a stretch. While scoring 50s-60s are achievements for most batters in international, anything less than a century is counted as a failure for this duo.

The kind of pressure that Kohli and Tendulkar have borne for majority of their cricketing career is unimaginable for the mere mortals. Critics and fans are quick to start writing career obituaries for legends after one fails to replicate the form that made them legends in the first place. There was the ‘ENDULKAR’ phase for Sachin and Kohli himself went through a 1,020-day drought to score an international century.

Now that he has finally gone from 70 to 71 centuries, the immediate question in every fan’s mind is whether Kohli can surpass Tendulkar as yet untouchable record of 100 international centuries. Let’s look at possibility of the same.

Thank you for all the love and support throughout the Asia Cup campaign. We will get better and come back stronger. Untill next time pic.twitter.com/yASQ5SbsHl — Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) September 9, 2022

Kohli vs Tendulkar at age of 34

Tendulkar had over 25,525 runs by the age of 34 by playing only two formats of the games – Tests and ODIs. While Kohli has managed to score 24,002 runs just shy of 34 years of years (he turns 34 in November this year).

Tendulkar scored 8,832 international runs after 34. Only Pakistan batter Misbah-ul-Haq (9,313) scored more than him after crossing that age. Only Sri Lanka batter Kumar Sangakkara scored more centuries (26) than his 24.

So the Mumbai maestro had already reached 76 international centuries as compared to 71 by Kohli by the age of 34. Even if Kohli manages to surpass Sangakkara’s record – he has the task of scoring 30 more international centuries before he decided to hang up his boots.

Virat Kohli (at 33 years, 308 days) – 24,002 runs

Sachin Tendulkar (at 34) – 25,525 runs

Most runs in international cricket :-
34357 - Sachin Tendulkar
28016 - Kumar Sangakkara
27483 - Ricky Ponting
25957 - M Jayawardene
25534 - Jacques Kallis
24208 - Rahul Dravid
24002* - Virat Kohli

Kohli reached 24,000 international runs today.#AsiaCup2022 — Rhitankar Bandyopadhyay (@rhitankar8616) September 8, 2022

Virat Kohli’s century drought may prove costly

Kohli’s last international hundred came in 2019 against Bangladesh in Test match. He went through a barren patch of 3 years before he could move from 70 to 71 international hundreds.

He is a breakup of Virat Kohli’s centuries by years.

2008 – 0 (5 matches)

2009 – 1 (8 matches)

2010 – 3 (25 matches)

2011 – 4 (47 matches)

2012 – 8 (46 matches)

2013 – 6 (43 matches)

2014 – 8 (47 matches)

2015 – 4 (37 matches)

2016 – 7 (41 matches)

2017 – 11 (52 matches)

2018 – 11 (47 matches)

2019 – 7 (46 matches)

2020 – 0 (24 matches)

2021 – 0 (16 matches)

2022 – 1 (24 matches till date)

The good thing for Kohli is that 2022 is not over yet. Team India have the series against Australia and South Africa before they head to Australia for the T20 World Cup 2022 followed by another T20 series against New Zealand. Assuming that Kohli decides to play in all of those upcoming matches, Kohli should add a few more tons to try and take him closer to Tendulkar’s elusive mark.

Is Virat Kohli greater than Sachin Tendulkar?

Kohli has reached 71 international centuries in one match less than the legendary Sachin Tendulkar – 522 to 523 but is he a GREATER batter than Tendulkar? Tendulkar’s achievements surpass his number of centuries or runs.

Tendulkar valiantly tried to win the ODI World Cup for 19 years from 1992 onwards, scoring 2,278 runs from 45 matches in this period with 6 hundreds and 15 fifties. He finally became a world champion under MS Dhoni in the 2011 World Cup, a squad that Kohli was part of as a youngster.

Kohli, on the other hand, has 1,030 runs in 26 ODI World Cup matches from 2011 to 2019 with two hundreds and six fifties. In the T20 World Cup, from 2012 to 2021, Kohli scored 845 runs from 21 matches at an incredible average of 76.81 with 10 fifties but he hasn’t to win any of them so far.

But Kohli the captain is definitely far superior than Tendulkar the captain. Kohli is India’s most successful Test captain with 40 wins under his name and a win-percentage of 58.8 per cent. Tendulkar, on the other hand, led India in only 25 Tests and managed to win only 4 for a win-percentage of 16.

Most Player Of The Match Awards

76 - Sachin Tendulkar
58 - Virat Kohli*
58 - Sanath Jayasuriya
57 - Jacques Kallis#ViratKohli#INDvAFG — Trendy Cricket (@Trendy_Cricket) September 8, 2022

Kohli also has to carry the burden of turning out for Royal Challengers Bangalore each year in the Indian Premier League. He has played in 223 IPL games till date and scored 6,624 runs with 5 hundreds and 44 fities. Tendulkar only played in 78 IPL games, scoring 2,334 runs with 1 hundred and 13 fifties.

It remains to be seen how Kohli juggles his remaining cricketing and if he can indeed surpass Tendulkar’s mammoth tally of 100 international centuries. They are both LEGENDS in their own right, you can choose who is GREATER among the two!