Mahela Jayawardene reveals his take on India's GOAT debating Kohli, Tendulkar and Dhoni
"Being the captain as well is not an easy thing."
If there is one thing that the cricketing world never gets tired of then it has to be comparisons. The comparisons have always been a major topic of discussion among the fans and the players, especially among the Indians. The players who have been the subject of comparisons are Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli. While Tendulkar is India’s most decorated batsman of all time, Kohli is looking set to create his own legacy.
Tendulkar retired as the highest run-scorer in both Tests and ODIs and highest centurions in both the formats. On the other hand, Kohli has already scored over 10,000 ODI runs and is second in the list of most centuries. At just 30, Kohli has scored 39 ODI tons and 25 Tests tons. No surprises then that the fans and players cannot stop comparing Kohli with the legendary maestro. Another section of the fans feels MS Dhoni also deserves to be in the debate of who is India’s greatest cricketer of all time.
Well, albeit Dhoni’s stats might not be as attractive as that of Tendulkar and Kohli, one cannot undermine his impact in the game. Hailed as one of the best finishers of all time, Dhoni is one of the handful of players to have breached the 10,000-run mark in ODIs. His captaincy record only bolsters his case.
Mahela Jayawardene’s take:
The jury is still out to find a conclusion on the never-ending debate and now former Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene has given his take on the topic. The legendary batsman, who played against all the three Indian cricket stalwarts, hailed the trio for handling the expectations so well before singling out Kohli for some special praise.
“It’s not just about the ability Virat has but to understand the way to handle pressure not just on the field but also off the field and the expectations. We grew up with Sachin who had to perhaps experience the same thing. And for the next generation, it’s probably on Virat’s shoulders, with MS Dhoni carrying on for a while. Virat has a good group of guys around him as well. If you ask the Indian fans they would want Virat to win the game and that is something he has managed to control really well,” said Jayawardene to India Today.
“Being the captain as well is not an easy thing. He has managed to understand that the captain’s role is on the field but when he is batting it is that which is very important. So those are little things that define a personality and that is what he has been able to do really well,” he added.
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