'In ODIs...': Australia star's big take on Tendulkar vs Virat Kohli debate, 'Sachin was the benchmark when I grew up'

Virat Kohli had been earmarked as the heir to Sachin Tendulkar next talisman of the Indian batting lineup and perhaps even eclipsing some of the latter's extraordinary batting records in international cricket. Over the years, Kohli's star never really stopped rising, to the point that he has now been cited as one of the reasons why cricket has got included in the Olympics.

Kohli is recognised as one of the greatest Test batters of his generation but his record in the longest format of the game, while being incredible in its own right, has not yet got close to what Tendulkar managed in his 23-year career. It is quite a different story in ODI cricket though and with Kohli getting close to the batting great's century record in the format despite playing just over half the number of games has led to many saying that the former can already be considered greater than Tendulkar.

Australia batter Usman Khawaja said so on Fox Cricket, stating that Kohli seems to be doing what no batter has ever done in ODI cricket. “I am going to say in ODIs, yes," he said when asked if Kohli is better than Tendulkar. "If you look at the stats, he has almost overtaken how many hundreds he (Tendulkar) has got, and he has played so many more fewer games. Sachin was the benchmark for when I grew up, but what he is doing right now, no one has ever done that in the game."

Tendulkar scored 18,426 runs at an average of 44.83 in 463 ODI matches with 49 centuries and 96 half centuries. At the time he retired from ODIs, the second highest centuries in the format was to former Australia captain Ricky Ponting at 30. Kohli, on the other hand, has now got 47 centuries in the format in 284 matches. He has scored 13,239 runs at an average of 57.56.

‘The greatest run chaser we have ever seen’

Kohli is particularly known for his remarkable consistency in getting India to victory in run chases. Khawaja said that the reason why he is so consistent is because he takes the most risk-free route possible to score runs and is able to pace an innings perfectly.

"He is the greatest of the run chasers that we have seen in One-Day cricket. The thing I love about Virat is his consistency. The reason I believe he is so consistent over such a long period is that he is the greatest two and four-hitter I have seen. He doesn't hit a lot of sixes in ODIs,” said Khawaja.