***Official*** India in South Africa 2017/18

[vcs]

haha he was aware of the fact that he hasn't scored a 100 in SA. WAG

I remember he was left stranded on 85 in a rain affected game in 2011 (just before the WC). That was a tough pitch as well, that was the innings I really took note of his talent.

 

[Bahseph]

That was a masterclass from Kohli and Rahane. Lovely to watch. I mentioned it earlier but SA really got their selection wrong. Shamsi should have played today. And I agree that Morris and Lucky probably shouldn't be in the same team purely cos Morris can either look absolutely horrible or world class in the matter of a few spells. Gibson does want as many allrounders as we can get though ala England.

 

[centurymaker]

He's not just going to break it, he'll smash it. Has a decent chance of getting close to 100 international centuries as well, at the rate at which he's going.

Yeah, he is probably going to break all records. But raw stats are misleading though, if we are looking at them to compare the two players. Even though Tendulkar has 49 tons, he also has 'by far' the record no. of 90s....18 in total in ODIs. Next best is just 9!

So he should have had around 60 tons tbf. (And tbh there isn't much of a difference in ODIs between a 90 something and a low 100. So I wouldn't elevate Kohli just based on that.). Remember Tendulkar only scored his 1st ODI ton after 78 games (in 1994) because prior to that year, he had always batted right down the order. Kohli also started a little lower so I'd give Tendulkar a 50 game adjustment. Given he batted 452 times, thats around 400 times after adjustment, Kohli in contrast has had 195 innings, around half the number of innings. And Kohli has 33 tons vs what should have been close to 60 tons for Tendulkar in double the innings. (Yes he got just 49 but I am going a little beyond raw stats). So not much in it.


Also, bat has become more and more dominant in current era. Scoring has gone up by 10-20% and is also reflected in avg scores and higher batting averages. 250 used to be a winning total in first half of Tendulkar's career, while now even 300 is not enough. So in truth Kohli's stats aren't that ahead of Tendulkar's. Because a 100 now, is worth maybe 80 in the 90s. So after allowing for adjustments, there isn't a significant gap.

The BIGGEST difference however is that Kohli is a chase master. The way he sets up a chase is an art in itself. Tendulkar couldn't quite do that especially so in the 2nd part of his career, although he could demolish attacks with his batting genius. And when it comes to batting at the start of the innings, Tendulkar was something else though.
in contrast Virat Kohli can do it all and at all stages of an ODI and in pretty much all circumstances, most versatile and an ultimate chase master. That probably puts him a little above Tendulkar, not necessarily due to the raw stats. As a counter to that, he hasn't yet dominanted a world cup, while Tendulkar was exceptional in multiple WCs.

So in terms of where Kohli stands, it will depend on whether Kohli can dominate a world cup or two and lead India to world cup glory over his next 2 or maybe 3 world cups. If he truly thrives at the highest stage, I would even put him above Viv but he fails, then it may be even difficult to have him higher than Tendulkar himself. Atm Kohli is little above him but it can change.


Kohli may even get 60+ tons if he plays enough and remains injury free, which would be special achievement but he could quite easily get the 90s curse or conversation curse at some point and struggle to truly recover from it. Happens with plenty of top batsmen.

 

[Daemon]

Morris only useful as a death bowler imo.

 

[Stefan9]

Not good enough from SA . Poor batting and even worse bowling.

 

[Spark]

Taking as presumed that we all accept Viv as top of the tree, how far is Kohli from challenging him for that mantle? Ludicrous, ludicrous batsman.

 

[centurymaker]

Great article-

Stats debunked-

Is Kohli up there with Tendulkar and Richards as an ODI batsman? - ESPNcricinfo

Kohli can break all the records he wants but he is going to have to do something even more special to surpass former greats. Likewise the same applies to Smith in Tests, these dudes are playing in very favourable times, have to take their stats with a grain of salt.

Also, I have noticed that people have been taking ICC ratings too seriously but the fact is that they aren't exactly great either as they are pretty flawed. For example, when you put in a good individual score, you benefit more when other batsmen fail. Whats more, you get even more points (significantly more) if your bowlers deliver you a win. Both these factors have nothing to do with your batting yet they play a huge role in how many points you get.

So a batsman benefits most ...when he is not part of a team with great batting lineup but merely a good batting line where he can stand out being the tailsman AND a team with very good or top class bowlers which can regularly lead to test wins by bowling opposition out. That way, the batsman derives the most number of points from his batting contributions. (Basically icc ratings are a bit trash, although it would be hard to come up with anything better).

 

[Spark]

Great article-

Stats debunked-

Is Kohli up there with Tendulkar and Richards as an ODI batsman? - ESPNcricinfo

Kohli can break all the records he wants but he is going to have to do something even more special to surpass former greats. Likewise the same applies to Smith in Tests, these dudes are playing in very favourable times, have to take their stats with a grain of salt.

Also, I have noticed that people have been taking ICC ratings too seriously but the fact is that they aren't exactly great either as they are pretty flawed. For example, when you put in a good individual score, you benefit more when other batsmen fail. Whats more, you get even more points (significantly more) if your bowlers deliver you a win. Both these factors have nothing to do with your batting yet they play a huge role in how many points you get.

So a batsman benefits most ...when he is not part of a team with great batting lineup but merely a good batting line where he can stand out being the tailsman AND a team with very good or top class bowlers which can regularly lead to test wins by bowling opposition out. That way, the batsman derives the most number of points from his batting contributions. (Basically icc ratings are a bit trash, although it would be hard to come up with anything better).

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[vcs]

Taking as presumed that we all accept Viv as top of the tree, how far is Kohli from challenging him for that mantle? Ludicrous, ludicrous batsman.

At this point, there's not a whole lot left for him to do except score a century in a WC knockout match. Even if he doesn't, he's still going to make a lot of AT ODI XIs based on relentless consistency in bilaterals.

 

[Spark]

At this point, there's not a whole lot left for him to do except score a century in a WC knockout match. Even if he doesn't, he's still going to make a lot of AT ODI XIs based on relentless consistency in bilaterals.

I honestly don't remember how his last WC left, but yeah, he's had a few opportunities in big tournament knockouts and hasn't quite performed

 

[vcs]

Kohli's in a really ridiculous run of form right now, like Ponting between 2005-07. Sometimes I worry that it's too good to last and a very bad slump is around the corner.

 

[vcs]

I honestly don't remember how his last WC left, but yeah, he's had a few opportunities in big tournament knockouts and hasn't quite performed

Scored a century against Pakistan and didn't do well in the knockouts after that (Johnson bounced him out in the semis after tying him down for a few overs).

 

[Spark]

Scored a century against Pakistan and didn't do well in the knockouts after that (Johnson bounced him out in the semis after tying him down for a few overs).

Wait, do you mean 2011? Because we played Pakistan in 2015 in the QFs.

EDIT: Oh you mean overall, never mind.

 

[Shri]

Kohli's in a really ridiculous run of form right now, like Ponting between 2005-07. Sometimes I worry that it's too good to last and a very bad slump is around the corner.

I wish it begins soon so that he can be stripped of the captaincy.

 

[StephenZA]

Injured_Faf_out_of_ODI_T20_series

 

[Heboric]

Injured_Faf_out_of_ODI_T20_series

Oh great, this is going to be a long series

 

[harsh.ag]

Kohli should take a break from the series to even things out.

 

[anaksr]

Meanwhile, cricinfo has this to say:- Both du Plessis and de Villiers sustained their finger injuries trying to catch out Virat Kohli and while India still have their captain, South Africa will now be scrambling for one.

 

[anaksr]

Shastri backs decision to field Rohit, Ishant in Centurion - ESPNcricinfo

I mean, Is he high all time. Seriously I am worried about Indian cricket with him around.

 

[Shri]

Will SA even make enough runs for Kohli to get another 100 in this series?