'You cannot make another Gavaskar or Tendulkar'- Javed Miandad's take on Virat Kohli's comparison with former Indian greats

The current Indian skipper Virat Kohli’s evolution as a batsman is quite amazing. In the last decade, he has reaped out a lot of success on the back of his brilliant and remarkable batting. He is quite consistent across all the formats and is often compared with the likes of Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar. Now, Javed Miandad, the former legendary batsman from Pakistan has given his opinion over such comparisons.

The 31-year-old is getting close to several big records that were created by Sachin Tendulkar. The former player lauded Kohli for his emergence as modern-day great. However, he still feels that it will be unfair to compare players from two different generations. At the moment, the Indian skipper is just six tons away from matching Sachin’s record for scoring most number of centuries in ODI cricket.

Javed Miandad feels it is wrong to compare Kohli with Sachin and Gavaskar 

“If you are talking of the streetfighter attitude, then I don’t think you can compare anyone from my era with the present generation. You cannot make another Sunny Gavaskar or Sachin Tendulkar. Can idolise someone but that won’t change an individual’s class or quality. You can’t compare players from different generations,” Miandad was quoted as saying by Telegraph.

Miandad also mentioned that cricket during his time was quite difficult. He added that earlier batsmen had to face lethal bowlers like Malcolm Marshall and Dennis Lillee without having proper protective gear. The 62-year-old recited the fact that Steve Smith, Virat Kohli and Babar Azam are some of the finest batsmen in modern-day cricket but, they still have to prove a lot by performing well in different conditions before reckoning them as the greats of the game.

“Cricket was tough during my time. We had to face the likes of Malcolm Marshall, Richard Hadlee, Dennis Lillee, and Jeff Thomson. They bowled express pace and the wickets were bouncier and faster. You had to adapt to different conditions and how quickly you acclimatised defined your class.”

“The nature of wickets and conditions has also changed. You can’t compare a Virat or a Steve Smith or Babar Azam… All are good but there’s still some difference in quality. The ones who deliver consistently and in different conditions go on to become greats,” he added.