Stats: Virat Kohli or Sachin Tendulkar - Who is India's greatest in Tests?
The way Virat Kohli has evolved as a batsman, he is being touted as the next best thing that has happened to Indian cricket after Sachin Tendulkar. Some people have started comparing him to Sachin Tendulkar and some have gone on to the extent of saying that he might end up breaking some of Sachin Tendulkar's batting records.
Nobody can deny the greatness of both these batsmen, their record is proof of their greatness. If Sachin had an impeccable technique then Kohli has an attitude and hunger to die for. Both these batsmen are special in their own ways, but comparisons are bound to happen.
Let's take a look at the stats of these two batsmen to seek an answer to these comparisons:
#1 Test matches taken per hundred
To be a good Test batsman one should know the art of scoring hundreds as it is imperative for an individual to score big to take his team to a respectable total.
Sachin scored 51 Test hundreds from 200 Test matches which implies that he scored a hundred every 3.92 Test matches.
Virat Kohli has scored 24 Test hundreds from 73 Test matches which implies that he has scored a hundred every 3.04 Test matches.
At this point in his career, Virat Kohli is certainly leading Sachin on this parameter, but, it remains to be seen- whether he is able to maintain this speed of scoring hundreds till the end of his career.
#2 The ratio of away Test hundreds to total hundreds
A good batsman should have the ability to score runs in every condition. Most batsmen are comfortable in their native conditions. To separate great batsmen from good batsmen, it is imperative to look at their away batting record.
The ratio of away Test hundreds to total hundreds can tell you which of these batsmen was better in alien conditions. Higher the ratio better the performance.
Sachin scored 29 out of his 51 test hundreds away from home, which implies a ratio of 0.56. Kohli has scored 13 of his 24 test hundreds away from home, which implies a ratio of 0.54.
At this juncture, Sachin is better than Kohli on this parameter.