It's too early to compare Virat with Sachin: Sourav Ganguly

Virat Kohli’s century at the Eden Gardens yesterday was nothing short of a milestone as the right-hander registered his 50th international hundred. With the completion of the feat, it brought up comparisons between the Indian skipper and cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar who has 100 centuries to his name.

While it’s no less than a compliment being compared to the ‘Master Blaster’, it’s also unfair on part of Kohli, who’s still in his prime and has a long way to go.  This was Virat’s first ton at the hallowed ground and he also became the fastest to reach 50 international hundreds. In the list of most number of international centuries, Kohli currently ranks at the eight spot behind Caribbean legend Brian Lara who has 53.

Speaking of the ongoing comparison, former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly said he did not want to compare Virat with Sachin. He believes the current team captain will score many more hundreds like the one at Eden Gardens against Sri Lanka.

“It’s too early to compare him with Sachin. He still has to make 50 more centuries. But the way he is going, he will make many more such hundreds,” Ganguly told reporters after the culmination of the first Test.

Match Details

Kohli finished not out on 104 off 119 balls in the second innings helping India post 352/8 dec. and set Sri Lanka a 231-run target. His century converted adversity into an opportunity and India almost pulled off a near-impossible win over Sri Lanka. They were on the verge of winning the tie with the visitors on the mat at 75/7 before bad light stopped fifth day’s play.

Ganguly also lauded the efforts of the Indian seamers, who took all the 17 wickets, the most by pacers in a Test match. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was adjudged Man of the Match and registered career-best figures of 8/96 while Mohammed Shami returned with match figures of 6/134.