For two decades Sachin Tendulkar has been entertaining the Indian fans through his brilliant batting. Fans used to watch cricket just to watch Sachin play. Ever since the champion batsman retired from the international cricket people started asking questions which player will fill his shoes. But Virat Kohli has filled the vacuum left by Sachin to a large extent through his outstanding batting skills. He has already scored 19 centuries in one day and is touted by many to break Tendulkar’s record of scoring maximum centuries in one dayers. When a journalist had questioned Tendulkar which batsman can break his record then he mentioned Virat’s name. Sachin might be true as Virat is already ahead of the former when one makes comparison between the runs scored by both these batsmen after 20 tests. By the time Tendulkar turned 25 he had 15 ODI centuries whereas Kohli has already scored 17 centuries at the same age.
Virat has been the mainstay of the Indian batsman who is now feared by the opposition team. He can singlehandedly change the course of the game and has won many matches for India. Opposition has started making plans to tackle him. Even though India lost the T20 final match but Virat remained consistent throughout the series. The manner in which Virat is playing he can easily break Tendulkar’s record if he remains fit and plays for a long period of time. He is a young batsman and has hunger for runs just like Tendulkar. Virat himself has grown up by watching the little champion play. When India had won the 2011 world cup Virat was the part of the team and he along with Suresh Raina and Yusuf Pathan had lifted Tendulkar which was a memorable moment. Infact it was Tendulkar’s dream to win the world cup for India which was fulfilled.
There was a time when Indian batting used to heavily rely on Tendulkar and opposition would target him. Once he gets out then India loses the match. Now once again we are witnessing the same situation as Indian team has slowly started depending heavily on Virat. If Kohli scores then the team wins and if he doesn’t it faces defeat. But according to experts this heavy dependence on Virat doesn’t augur well for India. The loss of form of Shikar Dhawan has become a major concern for India hence Rahane was asked to open the innings along with Rohit Sharma. Suresh Raina gives good starts but fails to convert it into big innings.
Yuvraj’s form has dipped drastically and people had severely criticised him and also pelted stones on his house after India lost the finals of T20 world cup. Rohit Sharma too has been inconsistent and has been getting out in the 20’s and 30’s while age is catching up with Dhoni. Time is running out for Team India as the 2015 world cup is just a year away. The team has been losing several series badly in the recent past. Therefore, India will have to build a strong middle order and good opening partnership backed by superior bowling if it wants to defend its World Cup title.
