New Delhi: Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma has stacked up astonishing numbers while batting as a pair but when it comes to facing quality fast bowlers, the celebrated opening pair of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly had a far tougher job, feels former Australian captain Ian Chappell.
“An argument could be mounted that Kohli and Sharma are India’s best ever one-day batsmen. The obvious challengers would be the feted combination of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, who tormented international bowlers for 15 years,” Chappell wrote in his column for ‘ESPNcricinfo’. Chappell then gave an example how during Ganguly-Tendulkar era, each international team had two quality fast bowlers. “They (Tendulkar-Ganguly) spent bulk of that time opening together against some of the best fast-bowling combinations. Facing Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis from Pakistan; Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh of West Indies; Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee of Australia; Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock for South Africa; Lasith Malinga and Chaminda Vaas of Sri Lanka was a serious test of a batsman’s skill.” Quoting a comment of Pakistani pace great Imran Khan that “you judge a man by his opponents”, Chappell said, “On the basis of the quality of the opposition, you’d have to lean towards Tendulkar and Ganguly. “However, if you extrapolate their current figures to give Kohli the same number of innings as Tendulkar, and Sharma the equal of Ganguly, the current pair finish well in front,” he added. Chappell acknowledged that the one indisputable argument was that Kohli and Sharma are the best ever white-ball combination. (PTI)
