Virat Kohli’s numbers are staggering.
The India skipper has scored 35 one-day international hundreds – only countryman Sachin Tendulkar, with 49, has more – with 19 of those tons coming in successful run chases.
Kohli averages 58.10 from his 208 matches in the international 50-over format, while he averages 48.58 in T20 internationals, with his 1,992 runs placing him fourth on the all-time list.
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The 29-year-old is mighty effective in Test whites, too, with 21 hundreds – six of them doubles – and 5,554 runs at 53.40 in his 66 matches to date.
Ahead of India’s all-format tour of England – which begins at Old Trafford on Tuesday with the first of three T20Is – we asked Sky Sports Cricket experts Michael Atherton, Mark Butcher, Isa Guha, Rob Key and Nick Knight what makes Kohli great…
MICHAEL ATHERTON
He’s such a good all-round player, red ball or white ball. He’s one of the top two or three players in the world, if not the best in the world, so what makes him a great player? A combination of things stand out – technical excellence and an absolute drive and hunger to succeed being two.
Also, in this day and age where Twenty20 has expanded the way that batsmen play all around the wicket, he’s got all of those shots as well. So it’s a mixture of many things but I think what really separates the great sportsmen, in the end, is that desire to keep on performing and improving.
I don’t think it’s in his nature to sit back and say: “That’s as good as I can be”. That is really what separates the best from the rest – that constant desire to keep pushing the boundaries of what is possible. You see that in his behaviour and his manner out in the middle. He’s never satisfied.
MARK BUTCHER
He’s just a good batsman full stop. He’s got an incredible hunger to score runs, a real passion that drives him to get better. There are few better players, and there have been few better players in the history of the game, at chasing runs down in one-day cricket.
He’s had a rough time of things in England before, he just hasn’t been able to get going. It is a real burning desire of his to not only come over here and win but prove to everybody that he can play in English conditions. I hope English fans get to see the best of him over here because if that happens, particularly in the Test matches, we will get an incredible series.
When Virat is on the park, everybody knows that there is a battle on. There is very rarely a dull moment and as captain of India he will get in the opposition’s face and won’t take a backward step. All of that means we should end up with a fantastic backend to the summer. I, for one, can’t wait.
ISA GUHA
His batting is effortless, really. It’s simple batting. He knows his strengths, he knows his areas and he is able to get on top of the bowlers. He almost seems to know exactly where the ball will be pitched whenever he’s on strike. Kohli scores so freely. He’s like Joe Root in that before you know it, he’s on 30 off 20 balls. He is also the master of the chase – he calculates so the risks so perfectly.
He’s obviously worked on his game so that he can compete against the moving ball here in England and what everyone is waiting for is that Kohli-Jimmy Anderson battle in the Test matches.
He works so hard – that’s another reason why he is the greatest. He has an innate ability to keep striving and he knows exactly what he needs to do to be prepared for a series. He is ambitious and ruthless.
KOHLI’S TEST RECORD IN ENGLAND
- Innings: 10
- Runs: 134
- Highest score: 39
- Average: 13.40
- Ducks: 2
His recent neck trouble was quite frustrating from his point of view but it has, perhaps, been a blessing in disguise as he has played so much cricket in recent times. It gave him the chance to have a bit of a break and really focus on what is going to be a tough tour.
When he is in his batting mindset, he looks very calm at the crease and always in control, whereas in the field he shows his emotions a bit more and you can see what he is really thinking – there is a pure passion there. That is how he leads from the front and he’ll want to get stuck in here in England.
ROB KEY
You can almost go back to the nature versus nurture argument. Is it just like Sachin Tendulkar and he is one in a billion? He is just so much better, at the moment, than anyone else. If you look at it from a technical point of view, he is pure – has very little moment, plays with a very straight bat but then he has the flair and the finesse to use his wrists better than anyone else. He is a real trailblazer, actually, along with Kevin Pietersen, in how they’ve brought the bottom hand into top-level cricket.
He scores at a decent rate and he can do things without taking a risk. A lot of players we see batting at their maximum risk – even AB de Villiers, as good as he was, would have felt he was at maximum risk at times. Kohli does it without breaking sweat. He is a rare, rare talent and when you add that to his drive, which is second to none, that’s why you’ve got the best one-day player in the world.
I don’t think you can compare Virat and Sachin’s eras in white-ball cricket as the rules – two balls, fielding restrictions – have changed so much. Just look at the hundreds scored and the top scores in white-ball cricket since Sachin retired. Kohli will probably get to Sachin’s record number of ODI hundreds but you can call them equal. Sachin was the best in his era, Kohli is the best in his.
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NICK KNIGHT
He’s played exceptionally well over a long period of time now and I’m of the opinion that he probably will crack it in England this time around. I know Anderson and Stuart Broad will prove to be a testing opening for him when he first comes in but I suspect he will have learnt from the last time he was here and will have made adjustments to cope with English conditions.
I’ve no idea what makes him so good – that’s the question we all want answered! Not only is he scoring runs and big hundreds in ODI cricket but he is scoring those runs and those big hundreds when the pressure moments are at their greatest.
So not only do you look at the way he bats but mentally, how strong he is to cope with various situations when chasing down big scores. He must have a huge amount of self-belief and just an incredible ability to judge the game situation as well. He’s a phenomenal player and has been for some time.
Watch England take on India in three T20s, three ODIs and five Tests – with every ball live on Sky Sports Cricket.
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