Bhubaneswar: There are raging debates on who is a better batsman – Sachin Tendulkar or Virat Kohli. According to former India cricketer Aakash Chopra, such debates are meaningless as the two legends belong to different eras.
“The toughest decade to bat on was when English batsman Peter May used to play because runs were not coming in easily with batters across the globe struggling to make an impact. But May was the only player who was instrumental in making England win series after series,” the former India opener, who has played 10 Tests for the country, said Friday.
“Now, the majority of runs scored by Sachin were in the nineties – the second toughest decade to bat in international cricket. In those days there was a conscious effort to spice up the wicket to get results.”
“But in this era, the wickets are relatively easier as it tends to help the batsmen more rather than the bowlers. Moreover, there are hardly any quality bowlers these days. These things need to be kept in mind while comparing Sachin and Virat,” he added.
Chopra, who was in the city to talk on his book ‘Numbers Don’t Lie’ at the Ekamra Sports Literary Festival, also stated that Rahul Dravid is the highest impactful player India has ever produced in Test matches.
“I would compare Dravid with May. The reason is that Dravid used to come in at No.3, which is very tough position to bat. He would soak in a lot of pressure, handle the new ball if an opener got out early and make the job a lot easier for the others to come,” Chopra said.
However, when asked what impact VVS Laxman would have made in the Indian team if he had batted at the position of his choice, Chopra said, “When VVS used to come out to bat, it would probably be in the fifth or sometimes sixth position. Besides, he had to bat with the tailenders more often. Now at sixth down, you need someone to muscle the ball, hit sixes, convert ones into twos and twos into threes,” the 41-year-old added.
“He was an artiste. The way he handled the pressure and the work he had done in that position without the help of No.3, 4 or 5 is exceptional and one should give him a salute. Numbers do tend to lie a lot here.”