"I rate Sachin Tendulkar much higher than Virat Kohli" : Mohammad Yousuf

[Abdullah719]

Former Pakistan batsman Muhammad Yousuf rates legendary Sachin Tendulkar as a better performer than Virat Kohli despite the current India captain’s recent astounding form.

“I don’t want to take anything away from Kohli. He is an exceptional talent. But I rate Tendulkar much higher because of the era he played in, against the best teams, fast bowlers and spinners,” Yousuf told PTI in an interview.

“Nowadays, the quality of players is not the same as it was say in the 90s and until 2011. After 2011 World Cup the quality has come down. Tendulkar was a world class player and this can be judged by the number of runs and hundreds he scored against strong opposition in all conditions and in all formats,” Yousuf said.

“I played a lot against Tendulkar and he was a masterclass and produced match winning knocks many a times. I don’t think Kohli is facing the same quality bowlers or opposition.”

Yousuf, 42, who ended with an impressive average of 52.29 and 41.71 in 90 Tests and 288 ODIs, also slammed the Pakistan team for losing the Test series in Australia by three-nil.

“This was one of the weakest Australian teams we have seen and a series we should have won ended up three-nil. The tragedy is that the last two Tests could have been drawn easily by us but our batting failed miserably on good batting tracks,” said Yousuf.

He also dismissed observations by head coach Mickey Arthur that Pakistan’s bowlers had let the team down in New Zealand and Australia.

“It was the batting which let us down badly in all five Tests in both countries,” Yousuf said.

He also advised Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq to call it a day and retire gracefully instead of trying to prolong a career which was already extended.

“It is time for him to go and it is time for a new mindset to come into Pakistan team in Tests and ODIs. We have become a very passive team constantly playing in the UAE. This has damaged our cricket badly and the PCB needs to organise home series anywhere but UAE.”

http://www.hindustantimes.com/crick...mmad-yousuf/story-7yFMHxhHWhgiGmfBHmoa3H.html

 

[Slog]

Fair comments regarding Sachin

 

[Big Mac]

He also dismissed observations by head coach Mickey Arthur that Pakistan’s bowlers had let the team down in New Zealand and Australia.

Pakistan has never scored more runs in a 3 test series in Australia but sure, it was the batting that let us down.

 

[Slog]

Pakistan has never scored more runs in a 3 test series in Australia but sure, it was the batting that let us down.

Batting DEFINITELY let us down and is responsible for the whitewash in New Zealand

In Australia it's bowling but our batting two collapse didn't help

 

[Boom boom legend]

I agree with him regarding the batting. They made a lot of runs but whenever we entered the crunch period of games, they constantly collapsed. There was not much in the pitches for the bowlers who also were carrying knocks so cannot blame them too much.

 

[Big Mac]

Nowadays, the quality of players is not the same as it was say in the 90s and until 2011

While I agree that there were more world class bowlers around in the 90s, I love his 2011 cut-off.



"Batting is too easy now, it was more difficult in 1990s and went downhill in 2011. Oh, when did I play? I started in the 1990s and finished in 2010, why do you ask?"

 

[Boom boom legend]

With regards to Kohli I disagree. You can only be as good as your competition and beat whats in front of you.

Playing with better players raises your own game and I am sure if Kohli played in that era he would be able to raise his game further.

 

[Hawkeye]

Now watch moyo become the favorite Pak cricketer of our parosis.

 

[badsha001]

What a irony... before ex Pakistani player used to say sunil gavaskar wss better than SRT now SRT is better than kholi.

In reality, Kholi is on next level, if he was Pakistani then ppl would have started calling him better than Sir Bradman

 

[marlonbrowndo]

While I agree that there were more world class bowlers around in the 90s, I love his 2011 cut-off.



"Batting is too easy now, it was more difficult in 1990s and went downhill in 2011. Oh, when did I play? I started in the 1990s and finished in 2010, why do you ask?"

This guy is just something else. Very shrewd, bitter and arrogant individual

 

[Hasan123]

What moyo said about sachin is right and that is why I rate him so highly, he scored vs the best of 90s and early 2000s, than he scored vs the best bowlers from mid 2000s onwards.

Kohli can score against what's in front of him, I don't hold it against him that he is facing lesser bowlers. I'll back virat to score in most eras anyway. Some modern players may have struggled in previous eras and some other greats may have struggled in this era. That's why it's difficult to compare players from different eras.

 

[The_KING]

Moyo is right about SRT. I personally rate SRT higher than Kohli myself.

 

[sarmad1983]

its really a toss-up because we know SRTs end but not kohli...

ODI game, chasing 300+, would u really take SRT over kohli??

 

[FlickedOffHips]

What a irony... before ex Pakistani player used to say sunil gavaskar wss better than SRT now SRT is better than kholi.

In reality, Kholi is on next level, if he was Pakistani then ppl would have started calling him better than Sir Bradman

This. They used to say he never won India a game in ODIs. Fact is he always used to play big innings, especially against PAK and especially when it counted, in WCs and such. It's just that he wasn't a superhuman in LO like Kohli is.

 

[Mamoon]

I rate Virat Kohli much higher than Mohammad Yousuf.

 

[AuxiliA]

The theory that the 'standard' of cricket has gone down is a myth.

On the contrary, one could argue that the 'standard' has gone up owing to improvments in fitness, nutrition, training, infrastructure and revenue. Cricket is more professional than it has ever been. Today, its no longer 'ok' for world class teams to have poor feilders or long batting tails.

When people say modern batsmen like AbD or Kholi have inflated their stats due to 'batting freindly conditions' or 'bigger bats', the same logic should apply to bowling legends like Mcgrath or Wasim who likewise bowled during the 'bowler freindly' era, when being compared to the likes of Steyn or Starc.

 

[volcyz]

Kohli is way better than Sachin, he is well on his way to become the greatest of all time in my opinion.

 

[Mamoon]

When people say modern batsmen like AbD or Kholi have inflated their stats due to 'batting freindly conditions' or 'bigger bats', the same logic should apply to bowling legends like Mcgrath or Wasim who likewise bowled during the 'bowler freindly' era, when being compared to the likes of Steyn or Starc.

You just went to the restricted territory there, no one will provide a straight answer to this because people will be caught with their pants down.

It is quite simple really. If modern day batsmen are not as good as their predecessors because of the flat pitches, the modern day bowlers by default become better than their predecessors because they are bowling on flat pitches.

If Kohli, Root, Smith etc. can never be equal to the great batsmen of the 90s and 80s, the great bowlers of those era can never be equal to the great bowlers of the 2010s era.

 

[English August]

What a irony... before ex Pakistani player used to say sunil gavaskar wss better than SRT now SRT is better than kholi.

In reality, Kholi is on next level, if he was Pakistani then ppl would have started calling him better than Sir Bradman

Since you hold him in such high regard (and very much deserved, I might add), could you spell his last name correctly? It's Kohli.

 

[ali2220]

What a irony... before ex Pakistani player used to say sunil gavaskar wss better than SRT now SRT is better than kholi.

In reality, Kholi is on next level, if he was Pakistani then ppl would have started calling him better than Sir Bradman

What is the issue here? a different Pak player (Imran) rates Gavaskar above Tendulkar, since Sunil was also an Indian player, indians should get offended.Problem with indians is that they keep changing their gods.
Also Kohli is on different level in Onedayers, but in test he is not even close to Gavaskar.
As for comparison with Bradman, its none other than indians who keep saying that Sachin was far greater than Bradman!

 

[The_KING]

I rate Virat Kohli much higher than Mohammad Yousuf.

As would anyone sensible. One is a clutch player, the other was the King of soft runs.

 

[Pollack]

What is the issue here? a different Pak player (Imran) rates Gavaskar above Tendulkar, since Sunil was also an Indian player, indians should get offended.Problem with indians is that they keep changing their gods.
Also Kohli is on different level in Onedayers, but in test he is not even close to Gavaskar.
As for comparison with Bradman, its none other than indians who keep saying that Sachin was far greater than Bradman!

Haven't heard many Indians saying that. On the contrary they say he is don of this generation (when he was playing) even when most don't know anything about don except he averaged 100.

 

[ali2220]

Haven't heard many Indians saying that. On the contrary they say he is don of this generation (when he was playing) even when most don't know anything about don except he averaged 100.

Ofcourse many won't, but there are unrealistic worshipers who says that.

 

[Enforcer]

SRT is Better ODI batsman than Kohli. Kohli Can Surpass SRT , if he Won us an ODI series in SA or in AUS through his batting against the likes of Rabada and Starc.

 

[ali2220]

SRT is Better ODI batsman than Kohli. Kohli Can Surpass SRT , if he Won us an ODI series in SA or in AUS through his batting against the likes of Rabada and Starc.

Kohli is without doubt better than Sachin in onedayers, in test he's not even close so far.Kohli will perform in Aus, and SA in onedayers, only a matter of time.

 

[Speedster777]

Yousuf is a far better batsman than Kohli the FTB can ever be.

 

[Brilliance]

Virat Kohli as match winner>>>>>> Tendulkar.

Whenever Kohli scores a century India wins. Not always true for the other one.

Soon Kohli will overtake Sachin in all departments.

 

[Cricfan4eva]

Yousuf is basically saying he faced tougher quality opposition than players are facing today.

 

[The_KING]

Yousuf is a far better batsman than Kohli the FTB can ever be.

Check out Yousuf's record in places like Australia, Sri Lanka and South Africa. If anyone is a flag track bully its Yousuf. Except for that one year 2006, Yousuf was the king of soft runs. Just check out his pathetic world cup record. Kohli is miles ahead of bitter Yousuf. Anyone that says otherwise is delusional.

 

[R0H1T]

You just went to the restricted territory there, no one will provide a straight answer to this because people will be caught with their pants down.

It is quite simple really. If modern day batsmen are not as good as their predecessors because of the flat pitches, the modern day bowlers by default become better than their predecessors because they are bowling on flat pitches.

If Kohli, Root, Smith etc. can never be equal to the great batsmen of the 90s and 80s, the great bowlers of those era can never be equal to the great bowlers of the 2010s era.

A little bit of perspective? Bowlers till the late 90's were great at breaching the defense of batsmen, with a little (or lot) of help from the deck. These days we get T20 hacks playing stupid shots unable to survive in hostile conditions, not many bowlers (of today) can make optimal use of such conditions but the aggressive mindset of batters makes their job easier.

Take the Mohali pitch in 2015, the best batters from India would have easily scored 300 on that, perhaps even against Warne/Murali combined & yet we didn't see high scores in that test. The only bunsen burner in that series was the Nagpur track, like the one in Mumbai 2004 but check that scorecard, where survival was nigh impossible. Similarly take NZ pitches on our tour of 2002, there were more sub 200 scores than anytime I can recall in a series of 2 or more games. Now take the same NZ venues but 2016 tests vs Pak, you get something similar, in terms of scores, but the tracks weren't nearly half as bad.

The point being it doesn't take much too unravel a batter's defense these days, prime example being the Aus 40 something all out in SA, but you still do not see bowlers with the skillset & that probably peaked around the late 90's as evidenced by the batting averages in that decade. You'll have to go back to the 19th century or early 20th to find extreme tracks such as the Mumbai/Nagpur or NZ ones. The scores on display tell me that there's at least a slight dip in the quality of bowling & batting, with the same play rules (including protective gear) & personnel being different, as compared to the 90's IMO.

 

[Zak_Fan]

Most do. All Sachin needed was a competitive team in 90s, and he would have ended up as the GOAT. Having said that, the way Kohli's career is going, he may end up better then Sachin and establish himself as the GOAT.

 

[Statsman]

Did Yousuf just criticise the current team for losing against Aussies in tests from good positions? Irony just died a thousand deaths.

 

[Indiafan]

Kohli is way better than Sachin, he is well on his way to become the greatest of all time in my opinion.

how is winning at home way better than winning an odi series in australia? And sachin is arguably the best odi player in history. But kohli is just getting there?

 

[Stallion__]

Read between the lines and you will figure out why is he saying this.

 

[Mamoon]

A little bit of perspective? Bowlers till the late 90's were great at breaching the defense of batsmen, with a little (or lot) of help from the deck. These days we get T20 hacks playing stupid shots unable to survive in hostile conditions, not many bowlers (of today) can make optimal use of such conditions but the aggressive mindset of batters makes their job easier.

Take the Mohali pitch in 2015, the best batters from India would have easily scored 300 on that, perhaps even against Warne/Murali combined & yet we didn't see high scores in that test. The only bunsen burner in that series was the Nagpur track, like the one in Mumbai 2004 but check that scorecard, where survival was nigh impossible. Similarly take NZ pitches on our tour of 2002, there were more sub 200 scores than anytime I can recall in a series of 2 or more games. Now take the same NZ venues but 2016 tests vs Pak, you get something similar, in terms of scores, but the tracks weren't nearly half as bad.

The point being it doesn't take much too unravel a batter's defense these days, prime example being the Aus 40 something all out in SA, but you still do not see bowlers with the skillset & that probably peaked around the late 90's as evidenced by the batting averages in that decade. You'll have to go back to the 19th century or early 20th to find extreme tracks such as the Mumbai/Nagpur or NZ ones. The scores on display tell me that there's at least a slight dip in the quality of bowling & batting, with the same play rules (including protective gear) & personnel being different, as compared to the 90's IMO.

You are too fixated on batting collapses, which happened in previous eras as well. I recall India getting out in the 40s vs SL in an ODI in Sharjah and Pakistan regularly folding for cheap scores. The point is that modern batsmen have an advantage because of flat decks, modern bowlers have a disadvantage because of the flat decks. It can't work both ways.

There is no difference in the 2016 NZ-PAK pitches and the 2002 NZ-IND pitches. Nostalgia has made the wickets greener, but they were both greentops and the difference, if at all, was marginal.

Assuming that the quality of both batting and bowling has declined is not a serious perspective for me.

 

[srh]

What a irony... before ex Pakistani player used to say sunil gavaskar wss better than SRT now SRT is better than kholi.

In reality, Kholi is on next level, if he was Pakistani then ppl would have started calling him better than Sir Bradman

Gavaskar > Tendulkar > Kohli. Fact.