It is unfair to compare Virat Kohli’s side to Indian teams of the past, reckons Hashim Amla

Team India whitewashed South Africa in the recently concluded Test series by 3-0. The hosts won the series opener by 203 runs and in other two encounters, they defeated visitors by a margin of more than an innings. This was the first occasion when Indian team clean-swept Proteas in the longer format.

After Virat Kohli and Co. won the series with utter dominance, it lit up a debate whether this team is better than the past sides produced by the country. Now, former South African cricketer Hashim Amla has laid down his opinion over the comparison being made between present Indian team with the past.

Hashim Amla opines over present and past Indian teams

Hashim Amla, the former South African opener feels that it will be wrong to make such comparisons. The current Indian team is playing really well, but playing against a team under the likes of Sachin (Tendulkar), (Rahul) Dravid, (VVS) Laxman, (Sourav) Ganguly, (Virender) Sehwag, becomes difficult for any team.

“Having played against Sachin (Tendulkar), (Rahul) Dravid, (VVS) Laxman, (Sourav) Ganguly, (Virender) Sehwag. You are not going to get a batting line-up which is going to be better than that, worldwide. India at the moment is playing really good cricket, they are established and a balanced team.

They are doing well. But having played against Sachin and the like, that team was brilliant. (Anil) Kumble and Harbhajan (Singh) were fantastic bowlers. It may be for other people to decide, but I have played against some really good cricketers and (with) the change in over a decade, I do not think you can really compare each team,” the former cricketer said while speaking to Hindustan Times.

He also looked disappointed with South Africa’s batting performance. But, he felt that ups and downs are a part of every team and expected a strong comeback from his team. “We have to be very aware that (after) one bad tour like the one we have had in India, everybody starts scrambling and looking for reasons for it (team’s failure).

But whenever we had lost a tour, we would take the responsibility; yes, we did not play well enough—if that was the case. But if we had a good tour we would say we played well enough and we keep improving. It is difficult to quantify what has just come up,” he added.

Hashim Amla is regarded as one of the best openers that South Africa ever produced. He scored 9,282 runs in Tests and 8113 runs in ODIs for his national side.

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