IPL 2016: Sachin's legacy will stay unmatched for a long time, says Yuvraj Singh
In a recent interview with NDTV, Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh spoke about Sachin Tendulkar’s 100-Hundreds and the unfair comparisons between Sachin and Virat Kohli. The southpaw went on to say that Master Blaster’s legacy will stay unmatched for a long time and mentioned that Kohli will have to put in plenty of hard work to reach that stature.
"I think 100 centuries is really far away to think. Tendulkar was a great player and great ambassador of India and it is going to take a lot (of hard work) for Virat Kohli to come in comparison with that."
Virat and AB are currently the top 2 best batsmen in the world. The former tops the ICC T20 rankings, and is only second to AB de Villiers in the ODI rankings, as per the latest ICC lists.
Also read: 5 international records which Virat Kohli can break
"Virat (Kohli) is in great form. He is the best batsman of this generation along with AB de Villiers. So, I hope one day he becomes a great player for India."
Kohli, the most celebrated Indian batsman, made his international debut in 2008, after successfully leading the India U-19 team to their second world Cup win. He already has 36 international centuries and 48 fifties to his name.
The Indian Test captain started off as a dependable ODI batsman and has moulded himself into a fiery T20 batsman.
In the recently concluded T20 World Cup, Virat was in scintillating form, scoring 273 runs in 5 matches, with 3 half-centuries. He even won the Man of the Tournament for the series. The 27-year-old’s brilliant form from the World Cup has continued even in the current season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
With the way Virat’s growth curve has been, it is only normal for the fans to end up comparing him with the legendary Sachin Tendulkar. Although there are certain records which can be broken by him, the 100 International centuries record might just stay untouched.
However, Kohli can break Sachin's ODI centuries record as the batting maestro has scored 49 centuries in 463 ODIs. The current Indian hotshot has made 25 hundreds in 171 games at an average of 51.51, which is better than Tendulkar’s 44.83.
Yuvraj, who had injured his ankle during the T20 World Cup match against Australia in Mohali on 27 March, has been out of the game since then, missing out on the first half of the IPL. He is likely to be back in action for his new franchise when Sunrisers Hyderabad take on the Gujarat Lions in tonight’s game.
"I am hoping to play tomorrow's game in Hyderabad. As long as I am playing I want to play all three formats whenever I get an opportunity to play," he concluded.