Saqlain Mushtaq stops short of equating Virat Kohli with the great Tendulkar yet

While even voices in England’s fastidious cricket circles are feeling that current Indian captain Virat Kohli is at par with if not better than legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar, former Pakistani offspinner Saqlain Mushtaq has shown more restraint. The 41-year-old is of the opinion that Kohli is the only player from the current breed who “comes close” to matching the former Indian captain.

Mushtaq, who is working as England’s spin consultant, said India’s turnaround in the current five-match series would largely be decided by how Kohli leads their batting. The Indian captain has already slammed 400-plus runs in the series with two hundreds and as many fifties and leads the list of scorers for both teams by far.

“As a batsman, Sachin was a very big player. I cannot compare (two eras) but today Virat is the only one who comes close,” The Indian Express cited Mushtaq, who had many a duel with Tendulkar during his playing days, as saying in reports.

Kohli has tremendous hunger for runs and victory

“We were talking amongst the English support staff about how he played at Trent Bridge. In this third Test alone, Jimmy Anderson beat his outside edge 40 times, and yet he played the next ball with so much confidence. Virat plays ball by ball, run by run and session by session. He has a tremendous hunger for runs and victory. When you have someone hungry like that, he can do anything to satisfy his hunger,” he further said.

“The way Virat is scoring runs, it is ominous for England. During the first Test, I saw a signboard that said it is ‘England versus Virat Kohli’. If you take him out of the equation, it will be very easy for England. If you see from a coaching point of view, it is because of him the others have scored runs whilst batting with him. Having a world class batsman like Virat in your team certainly boosts the entire batting line-up,” Mushtaq added.

Kohli had to nurse a back injury in the second Test at Lord’s where he could manage only 40 runs but he still played the third match at Trent Bridge and scored 200 runs in the game. India won the match by 203 runs and made the series 2-1. The visitors will take on England in the fourth Test at the Rose Bowl, Southampton, starting August 30.

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