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Virat Kohli vs Younis Khan

Better bat

  • Total voters
    34
BazBall21

BazBall21

International Captain
Coronis said:
fwiw in the period their careers overlapped:
Younis (33-39) 4482 @ 54.00 17 tons 10 fifties (58 @ home, 51 away)
Kohli (22-28) 4497 @ 49.41 16 tons 14 fities (55 @ home, 44 away)
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Kohli has an obvious disadvantage there because he was just starting out in the early years you've specified which was also before the bowling era began, so an experienced Younis was always going to be very prolific. He had a considerably kinder opposition schedule than Kohli has received too. Virat's peak was also just getting started when Younis retired which is when the time period there cuts off. 2018 was his best year. A plethora of outstanding performances against deep pace attacks in their own backyards.
 
BazBall21

BazBall21

International Captain
PlayerComparisons said:
Younis was also in his mid to late 30s so he probably wasn’t at his peak as well
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Quality batters often hold up well on flat pitches unless they're very hand eye-orientated like Sehwag (who also had eye surgery it's worth saying). Inzi had fitness issues unlike Younis and he still aged well. Pitches helped. Chanderpaul is a good example. Idiosyncratic yes but declining physical attributes didn't affect his game much so he went on and on. Not entirely because of the era he played in, but it helped.
 
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PlayerComparisons

International Vice-Captain
BazBall21 said:
Quality batters often hold up well on flat pitches unless they're very hand eye-orientated like Sehwag (who also had eye surgery it's worth saying). Inzi had fitness issues unlike Younis and he still aged well. Pitches helped. Chanderpaul is a good example. Idiosyncratic yes but declining physical attributes didn't affect his game much so he went on and on. Not entirely because of the era he played in, but it helped.
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Yea different players peak at different ages. Peak Younis would still be top tier in this era although I do think his average would drop to below 50
 
BazBall21

BazBall21

International Captain
PlayerComparisons said:
Yea different players peak at different ages. Peak Younis would still be top tier in this era although I do think his average would drop to below 50
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There's the odd late bloomer etc but the usual peak years are 27-32. During a batsman's natural decline, conditions/opposition have a big say in how one ages; provided you aren't heavily reliant on physical attributes. Younis got good batting conditions by-and-large when he passed the age of 32. Amla for instance did not. Nor did Kohli. I think if Younis had Kohli's exact conditions and opposition schedule, he would be averaging less than Virat, but would still have had a very good career.
 
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PlayerComparisons

International Vice-Captain
BazBall21 said:
There's the odd late bloomer etc but the usual peak years are 27-32. During a batsman's natural decline, conditions/opposition have a big say in how one ages; provided you aren't heavily reliant on physical attributes. Younis got good batting conditions by-and-large when he passed the age of 32. Amla for instance did not. Nor did Kohli. I think if Younis had Kohli's exact conditions and opposition schedule, he would be averaging less than Virat, but would still have had a very good career.
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I agree with that. I see Younis averaging 47/48 rather than 52 if his career began in the early 2010s for Pak which obviously isn’t as good as Smith and Williamson but still top 5 in this era
 
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Slifer

Slifer

International Captain
BazBall21 said:
Younis was elite against spin and was safe enough against pace for the era he played in. He aimed to see quality pace out and feast on spin and weaker pace bowlers. Alastair Cook and Rahul Dravid had similar methods. This is a less successful strategy in eras like the 90s and the one Kohli has played in because your scoring outlets with the same approach will naturally drop a lot against deep pace attacks. Lack of range against pace is why he was never a good white ball batsman.

Ability play spin is very important, but ability against pace is vastly more important because pace comes in much more quantity and much more quality.
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👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
 
shortpitched713

shortpitched713

International Captain
Kohli just, but that's for right now. It's more than possible that Kohli's Test career could completely fizzle out (or resurrect in a spectacular manner. But on banana peel ending injury to Kohli now, I'd give his current career the nod over Khan's, but it's very close.
 
S

subshakerz

Hall of Fame Member
I changed my mind. I have gone for Kohli. I think at this point despite his career fizzling out he has done enough to be ahead of Dravid and Younis. He is only behind Sanga in the SC batting stakes.
 
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Thala_0710

First Class Debutant
subshakerz said:
Why not?

Dravids weak records with multiple series failures in Aus and SA matter more to me than Kohlis in England.

Plus Kohli is simply a more attacking, aggressive player.
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Kohli's also failed in NZ too. Also, Dravid had multiple great tours of ENG, NZ and a WI with Ambrose-Walsh whereas Kohli has only 1 great tour of Aus and the rest are good/decent. Kohli has been consistently great in SA though. Dravid's importance in away wins in the early 2000's including some ATG knocks wins it for Dravid for me. And honestly, it's not particularly close for me in test cricket.
 
A

Arachnodouche

International Captain
Kohli's running short on credit sadly; there surely has to come a point when all his past exploits can't compensate for what looks to be the worst dip in fortunes for a once near-certain ATG batsman? Aus is a make or break tour. If he folds again I expect/hope his standing is reevaluated in a lot of these comparisons. A hundred in the upcoming dead rubber would be nice too.
 
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Thala_0710

First Class Debutant
subshakerz said:
Based on what, career average?
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Is close vs Younis. Dravid was a tier above from a technical pov and based on away performances for an extended time. Was arguably better against spin too and even when out of form was much better and more valuable than Kohli has been the last few years.
 
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