New Delhi: The Virat Kohli vs Sachin Tendulkar debate is one of the most fascinating in cricket. The argument between people about who is better between Tendulkar and Kohli has lasted for a long time, with ‘God’ and ‘King’ of cricket being tagged to them respectively. Consequently, one can hear many such discussions on any given day.
David Lloyd, former England player, also known as ‘Bumble’, commented on this age-old topic while speaking on talkSPORT Cricket recently.
His task was simple – choose either Tendulkar or Kohli for his all-time ultimate Test Playing XI. In immediate response to which he immediately reacted for the ultimate Test Playing XI—pick one of these two players only: “I did a bit of research, got on social media and I threw it out there. You can only have one. 95 percent said Sachin. Some are telling me, criticising me, some even asking the question. It’s ridiculous. There is only one answer.The other thing that kept coming up was that Sachin would leave his ego at home always. As for Kohli? “That’s quite a personable chap,” says Lloyd.
Reflecting on their Test cricket careers, Lloyd had a clear preference.” In Test cricket, Sachin.” He is an incredible cricketer though; Virat Kohli dangerous; he will take the game away from you without you even realizing it. Another exciting player! If I had to pick between Lara and Sachin in a Test match…Lara every time….He could hit balls where they were not thought about and do it naturally…I saw him score 5000 runs against England alone…If it was somebody else out there disturb him…I witnessed that once with SRT…..He’s so calm all the time….A little bit iffy but Sachin Tendulkar never displayed that….He was a very conservative player, Tendulkar. When going for Test match, between him and Kohli, two fabulous players. It’s not really an argument, Sachin.”
Although Lloyd preferred Tendulkar to be included in his Test XI, he had a different opinion when asked about the all-format XI; this is due to the fact that they played in different times and excelled in diverse formats of the game. During Kohli’s time there have been more T20 cricket matches and also number of games have gone up with inclusion of tournaments like IPL.
When asked for his choice of an all-format XI, Lloyd responded: “Virat Kohli.” “Sachin was sublime…. All is right with the world but I like a bit of rock and roll. The whole thing about two guys being the best there ever been…”We’re trying to look at T20s and ODIs, you could easily go for Kohli.”
