Is Virat Kohli India's next 'milestone man'?

Mohali: Comparisons with Sachin Tendulkar are given when a batsman like Virat Kohli turns in performances like the one he showed against Australia on Sunday.

Of the 22 players on the field, he was playing in a different zone, on a different planet - so much so, that at one point the game looked to be played between Virat Kohli and Australia.

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Needless to mention he was the difference between the two sides, but it must be commended how he's churning out incredible knocks with such regularity, drawing comparisons with the great man.

Some say it's too early, some feel those are two different individuals and some advise to let Kohli be Kohli - the one and only.

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None of the above could be denied or termed wrong.

Tendulkar played for close to a quarter of a century, Virat is only in the eighth year of his career; but the kind of consistency, temperament and hunger you see with Virat, it's hard to find any batsman other than Tendulkar who had such similarities.

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And even the man who had nightmares of Tendulkar hitting him was reminded of the great man after seeing Kohli bat the way he did at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium on Sunday.

"Great knock by @imVkohli Reminded me of one of your many special innings buddy," Warner tweeted in reply to Sachin's tweet that termed Kohli's innings as "special."

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It's difficult to resist comparing Kohli to Tendulkar, for the way he carries the hopes of the entire nation, it can only be related to none but him.

We actually can’t compare batsmen of two different eras albeit they belong to times as close as 1990s and 2000s, but if we draw a comparison between Kohli and Tendulkar for the curiosity of statistics lovers, the junior is far ahead of the senior pro.

Kohli is the fastest to complete 7000 ODI runs in 161 innings of 169 matches, while Tendulkar took 189 innings in 196 ODIs to achieve the same feat. However, it's the Test cricket where Tendulkar has slight edge over Kohli. Kohli is just six runs short of completing 3000 runs after having played 72 innings in 41 Tests. While Tendulkar took 45 Tests to reach the same landmark, his number of innings were fewer at 67.

Though Tendulkar played a lot of T20s in the Indian Premier League, the shortest format can never be a parameter to compare him with Kohli as the Master Blaster played just one T20I.

Be it Test, ODI or T20I format, Kohli has mastered them all, and his record while India chasing a target makes him probably the best performer under pressure the country has ever produced. In T20Is, he has played 42 matches and scored 1552 runs, but in the matches where India won, he has an improved record of 1169 runs in 29 games.

In ODIs, he has scored 7212 runs and 25 tons in 171 matches. Again, his record in matches where India won surpasses the overall record. He scored 4995 runs in 99 matches with an astonishing 21 centuries to help India win. It’s only Tests, where his average is lesser in the matches India won. He has 2994 runs to his name in 41 Tests and 960 of those came in 16 Tests India won.

He has special fondness for smashing Australian bowlers as he has scored six of his 11 Test centuries, 5 of 25 ODI tons and 4 of 15 T20I fifties against the Kangaroos.

For as long as Kohli is at the crease, fans are hopeful of clearing any hurdle, same as the case was with Tendulkar in his prime. No hope was lost until Tendulkar was at the crease. Now, that feeling is starting to return with Kohli.

Twice in this tournament now Kohli has played innings that raise his stature as a batsman manifold - first against Pakistan when India were 23 for 3 and now against Australia when his team was struggling at 49 for 3.

There are certainly no short-cuts to success, and you can see it the way Kohli has molded himself into a matured cricketer, understanding that aggression needs to be used to your advantage than disadvantage. That way he has become a lot more saner, which is now reflecting in his cool-headed stay at the crease.

"There is no magic wand that I am just swinging and scoring runs," he had said at a press conference. "Every one wants to do well, every one wants to score runs. It's about how much you believe you can do it. I think it is the major factor at the international level.

"I back myself to go out there and win the game or probably contribute as much as I can for the team to win every time I step out on the field. As a cricketer you don't have a long career. So you need to cherish the opportunities that you get."

Kohli certainly is doing what he's saying, and the consistency is there as well. But to step into the shoes of a Tendulkar, there are a lot harder tests lying ahead.

Having said that, the promise is very much there, and it doesn't look like Kohli will disappoint.