(This story has been republished from The Quint’s archives to mark the occasion of Virat Kohli’s 30th birthday on 5 November.)
Every individual, city, place is different – one standing apart from the other. However, the human race is such that we can’t help but compare one thing to another. You cook food – you start comparing to something else you ate, you wear clothes – you compare yourself to other people, you look outside your car – you compare your situation with someone else that you see, you go to work – you start comparing yourself to your colleagues.
It’s essentially human nature; we always want to double check and reassure ourselves.
We do it on a larger scale too. Who was the better President, PM, actor, singer, etc.? Should we be surprised then, that the latest fad on the block is – comparing Virat Kohli to Sachin Tendulkar? Personally, I hate talking about comparisons.
It started with Tiger Pataudi and Ajit Wadekar, EAS Prasanna and S Venkataraghavan, Sunil Gavaskar and Prasanna, Gavaskar and Kapil Dev – among others. I don’t think it will ever stop. The debate will continue for centuries to come.
But we are not here to decide whether the comparison is right or wrong. I consider myself lucky to have not only seen the Pataudi-Wadekar era, but also witnessed the Sachin-Virat generation.
Can you compare Mumbai to Delhi? Both have different cultures, languages, weather and food, but despite this knowledge, we still compare. Sachin Tendulkar started his career at a very young age; in fact, he changed the scenario by playing international cricket at the age of 16.
I was lucky to see his journey from the maidan cricket in Shivaji Park to Wankhede Stadium. He had a different spark in his eyes – both on and off the field, mind you. He was a student of this great game when he faced the first ball in his compounds of Bandra colony – all the way until he faced his last ball in international cricket against West Indies in 2013.
The hunger and dedication he had, the hardships he faced, the discipline he showed, his focus, concentration and willingness to learn, his pride in playing for his school, club or organisation, for his state and then for India remained the same.
Handling success and failures is the biggest challenge one faces while climbing the ladder. Sachin did it beautifully. The only black spot or question mark in his great career, one may argue, was when he was made captain of the Indian cricket team. But again, I was there as coach while he was captain.
I have never taken sides in my entire life as a cricketer, coach or chief selector, but here I would like to say that Sachin did not get enough opportunities to lead India and didn’t have the backing of his team members.
It would be better not to go into details.
It would be stupid of me to talk about his talent because the entire cricketing world is aware of the records he made and the centuries he scored. But more than his records and runs, what truly left a mark was the way he conducted himself – he always remained a true gentleman.
Sachin carried the legacy Sunil Gavaskar left, on his broad shoulders, and set an example for future generations. A perfect son, student, friend, husband, father and true legend of this game of cricket. You don’t get a Bharat Ratna just like that and he truly deserved it.
But as we all know, records need to be broken, and now another young man is trying to take his legacy further – Virat Kohli. It will be wrong for me to comment on his younger days, but I was fortunate to see him take big strides right from his Under-19 days.
Sachin was not as aggressive as Virat. But to use aggression, to raise your own game and to show the same intent that Sachin had, is a great thing to happen to Indian cricket. It is not right to compare them match by match, year by year, number of runs and centuries – however, Virat has scored runs and the fact is, that he is certainly ahead of Sachin Tendulkar at this stage of his career.
He still has mountains to climb – but he has already overtaken all the other greats of cricket.
Sachin had problems with injuries in the latter half of his career. Yet, managing to score hundred international centuries, with those injuries, remained his greatest achievement. The question is, can Virat break Sachin’s record? Only time will tell.
He has hit a purple patch, but can he go the wrong way? After all, Virat is also human, and the kind of workload he is carrying, the stress he is undergoing mentally and physically, also have to be taken into consideration.
All of us cricket lovers will keep our fingers crossed at this stage of Virat’s career and say that he is the only person who is getting closer to Sachin’s records. The discipline he has maintained in his life, both on and off the field, is so important. The vision, the goal, the standard, the parameters he has set for himself – speak volumes.
The only question I have in my mind is, how fit can he keep himself now that he still has 10 more years of cricket left in him? We enjoyed Gavaskar creating records, we enjoyed Sachin breaking all those records and Sachin himself will enjoy Virat breaking all of his records. After all, it was Sachin who said, that if anybody has the ability to surpass him, it will be Virat Kohli.
Let’s stop comparing and simply enjoy what Virat is doing. I salute these champions.
However, one thing that separates Virat from Sachin is that the former is a complete fitness freak while Sachin lacked a good attitude towards fitness. The Mumbai batsman rarely went to the gym, while Virat not only spends a lot of time in the gym, but also forces his teammates to go and train in the gym.
(The author is a former India cricketer who played 29 Tests and 45 ODIs for India. After his retirement, Sandeep Patil served as Chief Selector of BCCI’s Selection Committee and also as the Director of NCA (National Cricket Academy.)
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