Usman Khawaja rates Virat as better ODI batter than Sachin Tendulkar

Several Australian cricketers were asked to pick one among Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli in ODIs. The Australian opener Usman Khawaja rated Virat Kohli as better ODI batter than Sachin Tendulkar.

author-image
Sarah Andrew
New Update
Usman Khawaja

Usman Khawaja

Usman Khawaja has rated Virat Kohli as the better ODI batter than Sachin Tendulkar. Several Australian cricketers were asked to pick one among Virat and Sachin in ODIs, one of the toughest jobs ever. The Australian opener went with Virat over Sachin. Khawaja said that no one has done what Virat is doing in ODIs currently. 

"I am going to say Virat Kohli is better than Sachin Tendulkar in ODIs. If you look at the stats, he has almost taken over how many hundreds he (Tendulkar) has got, and he has played so many more less games. Sachin was the benchmark for when I grew up, but what Kohli is doing right now, no one has ever done that in the game," said Khawaja. 

Khawaja praised the Indian batter and said everyone wants to play with Kohli. "He improves players around him. Everyone likes to play with him; he drives standards high. When he came into the team, he wanted to leave a legacy, and he has done that with the way this Indian team is presented, the number one in all three forms of the game going into this World Cup," added Khawaja. 

'He can go in and take the game away from you' - Usman Khawaja

Khawaja felt that Virat possesses the capabilities to take the game away from opponents in minutes. He said that Virat controls the tempo of the game well. "The other thing I like about him is how he controls the tempo of the game when he bats. He has got different gears. He can go in and take the game away from you, and can also get into a shell when he has to. He just controls the whole tempo of the game," added Khawaja. 

Khawaja claimed Virat to be the greatest run chasers in the history of cricket and praised the consistency of the Indian batter. "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 of time is that he is the greatest two and four-hitter I have seen. He doesn't hit a lot of sixes in ODIs," Khawaja concluded. 

Sachin Tendulkar Virat Kohli Usman Khawaja