When it comes to deciding who India’s greatest ever batter is, two names which inevitably pop up are Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli. Tendulkar is the highest run-scorer in cricket history in both Tests and ODIs, while Kohli holds the record for the most centuries in ODI cricket. However, England batting great Joe Root had a clear answer when asked to pick between the two. Root was involved in a game of ‘This or That’, choosing between some of cricket’s greatest batters, and had to choose between Tendulkar and Kohli in the end. “Sachin,” was Root’s response, as he picked Tendulkar over Kohli in the video posted by England’s fan group Barmy Army.
The debate on who is greater, Tendulkar or Kohli, has raged on among cricket fans for years, particularly within the Indian cricket fraternity.
Tendulkar boasts 34,357 international runs across Tests and ODIs, having slammed 100 centuries across both formats.
On the other hand, Kohli has the third-most international runs in cricket history with 27,599, having played more than 100 fewer matches than Tendulkar.
Kohli boasts a better average than Tendulkar in ODI cricket, while Tendulkar has a greater average in Tests. However, with Kohli having retired from Tests and T20Is, it looks unlikely that he’ll match Tendulkar’s tally of total runs.
For Joe Root, Tendulkar stood out as the greatest batter among all, as he chose him over the likes of Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis, Brian Lara and Kohli.
Speaking of Root, the 34-year-old is rapidly hunting down Tendulkar’s record of the most Test runs. At the time of writing, Tendulkar (15,921) and Root (13,543) are separated by 2,378 runs.
In the recently-concluded Test series between India and England, Root went from No. 5 to No. 2 in the list of the most Test runs. Root overtook Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting to occupy second spot.