Sachin Tendulkar or Virat Kohli : Who is the greatest batsman of all time?

Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli are known as the biggest batsmen of all time in world cricket history. Sachin holds several records in Test and ODI format despite his 12 years of retirement. On the other hand, Virat Kohli has already broken some records of Sachin. If we ask who is the best player in Indian cricket history between Sachin Tendulkar or Virat Kohli. Many of his fans, experts believe that Sachin is the best while some believe in Virat Kohli. In many interviews, Virat Kohli has talked about Sachin that he wanted to become a cricketer because of the Master Blaster. Sachin has been an inspiration for him since his childhood. He lifted Sachin on his shoulders after winning the World Cup 2011. On the other hand, Sachin always believed that Virat is the person who will break his record and in the 2023 World Cup semi -finals, the modern-master fulfilled this expectation of Sachin. Therefore, today we examine the facts and data of these 2 legends.

Virat Kohli vs Sachin Tendulkar: Analysing the cricket careers of two Indian batting legends

Debut - Virat Kohli made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in 2008, T20I debut in 2010, Test debut in 2011 while Sachin made his ODI & test debut in 1989. He also played a T20I match in 2006 which is his only T20I. 
  
Domestic Career - Virat Kohli played 258 First-Class innings, where he scored 11479 runs including 37 centuries & 39 fifties. In list A, he scored 15348 runs in 316 innings including 54 centuries & 80 fifties, while Sachin Tendulkar played 490 first-Class innings, where he scored 25396 runs including 81 100s & 116 50s. In List A, he scored 21999 runs in 538 innings, where he smashed 60 100s & 114 50s.  
 
Test - when we compare both the legends in test format, Virat Kohli has scored 9230 runs in 210 test innings. In this format, he smashed 30 centuries and 31 fifty-plus scores with an average of 46.85. He has the highest 7 Double Centuries in Tests. On the other hand, Sachin Tendulkar scored 15921 runs in 329 test innings including 51 centuries & 68 half-centuries with an average of 53.78. He also has 6 double hundreds in this format. 

ODI - Sachin Tendulkar is often one of the greatest ODI batsmen. He scored 18426 runs in 452 innings including an average of 44.83 & 49 centuries & 96 fifty plus scores. He is the 1st batsman of world cricket who scored a double-hundred in 50-over format. He played this knock against South Africa in 2010 at Gwalior. While Virat Kohli has made 13906 runs so far with an average of 58.18. He has 50 centuries & 72 fifty-plus scores. His best innings was 183 runs which he smashed against Pakistan in 2012. 

T20Is - Sachin Tendulkar was part of India’s first T20I against South Africa in 2006. He scored 10 runs in 12 balls. After this, he never played this format again. On the other hand, Virat Kohli made his T20I debut in 2010 and after winning T20I World Cup 2024, he said goodbye to this format. In the middle, he scored 4188 runs in 117 innings including a century & 38 half-centuries. He smashed his century against Afghanistan in the 2022 Asia Cup.

IPL - Virat Kohli is the leading run scorer in IPL. He has 8004 runs in 244 innings in this league with an average of 38.66. He has smashed 8 centuries and 55 half-centuries so far . On the other hand, Sachin Tendulkar played 78 innings in IPL, where he scored  2334 runs including a hundred and 13 fifty-plus score. 

Captaincy - Both Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar have captained India in the past. In 2014, Virat became the Indian Test captain. After some time, he also received ODI & T20I captaincy. He was the captain for Team India in 213 international matches, where he scored 12883 runs including 41 centuries and 58 fifty. Under its captaincy, India won the ICC Test Mace, 2017 Champions Trophy final, 2019 World Cup semi -finals and 2021 WTC finals.

On the other hand, Sachin Tendulkar also became the Indian captain in 1996-2000, where he scored 4508 runs in 113 innings including 13 centuries and 19 half-centuries. But under his captaincy, the Indian team won 4 out of 25 Tests and 23 out of 73 ODIs, resigning him from captaincy. After that, Sourav Ganguly became the captain of the team.

Overall Career - The god of cricket “Sachin Tendulkar” took his international retirement against West Indies in 2013. Earlier, he played 664 international matches, where he scored 34357 runs, with an average of 48.52 in the 100 centuries and 164s, while King of Cricket “Virat Kohli” has retired only T20I till now, but he is still playing ODI & test format. He played 543 international matches so far where he has 27324 runs including 81 centuries and 141 half-centuries, with an average of 52.34.

Because of these two, India has won many matches in cricket history. If we remember Sachin's innings, who can forget his 98 runs innings in 2003 WC against Pakistan, his extraordinary innings in Sharjah in 1998, his comeback innings of 241 runs in Sydney 2004, his comeback innings of 85 runs against Pakistan in 2011 WC semi-final such as one of those innings which is unforgettable while Virat Kohli is considered as the greatest chase master of all time. His 82* run-innings is one of the historic knocks which he played in T20I World Cup against Pakistan in 2022.

Apart from that, he scored 183 against Pakistan in 2012 Asia Cup, 133 against Sri Lanka in Hobart in 2012, 82 against Australia in 2016 T20I WC, his century against NZ in 2023 WC semi-final and many other innings that his fans will never forget. Kohli and Tendulkar first played with each other during the Compaq Cup final against Sri Lanka in 2009 where the Master Blaster scored 138 runs in 133 balls to help India win the trophy. Kohli was also part of the playing XI in Tendulkar's farewell Test against West Indies in Mumbai in 2013. After winning the match, he also carried Sachin Tendulkar on his shoulders along with MS Dhoni.