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Why is Virat Kohli liked by so many in Pakistan, but Sachin Tendulkar still not as much?

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Hawkeye

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You will find many mocking, joking about Tendulkar. Some even going on to call him selfish, boring, etc.

And I'm talking about those who saw him play, during his time.

On the contrary, everyone just loves Kohli and have no shame in admitting he's the best.

Why?
 
When his own teammates were sceptical about Amir, Kohli went out of his way to embrace Amir. When no Indian cared about PSL, Kohli wished the best for Karachi Kings. When a certain Indian player fought with Afridi, Kohli sent a signed tshirt to Afridi foundation.

Imran rated Inzi more than Sachin. The same Imran can't get enough of Kohli. Miandad, Wasim, Saqlain sang praises of Kohli many times in the media.

There is this burning desire among Pakistanis to have 1 batsman like Kohli in their team. His aggression is more Pakistani like instead of typical sedate and humble Indian players. They try to compare every new batsman with Kohli because that's the bench mark in their eyes.
 
Kohli has good relation with Pakistani players and has said positive words about Palistan cricket. Positive as in praise, not diplomatic neutral words. Tendulkar was a gentlemen but he never actually tried to make good relation with Pakistan.

Also Kohli is a fitness freak which appeals a lot to modern youth, which is a great addition to his batting. Tendulkar had nothing to offer except cricket. Kohli can be inspirational to non-Indians for various reasons. Tendulkar doesn't have that charisma, he's a just another local Indian god.
 
rhony said:
When his own teammates were sceptical about Amir, Kohli went out of his way to embrace Amir. When no Indian cared about PSL, Kohli wished the best for Karachi Kings. When a certain Indian player fought with Afridi, Kohli sent a signed tshirt to Afridi foundation.

Imran rated Inzi more than Sachin. The same Imran can't get enough of Kohli. Miandad, Wasim, Saqlain sang praises of Kohli many times in the media.

There is this burning desire among Pakistanis to have 1 batsman like Kohli in their team. His aggression is more Pakistani like instead of typical sedate and humble Indian players. They try to compare every new batsman with Kohli because that's the bench mark in their eyes.
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Yeah except...he was liked from the start. Before all the public praises and from even before PSL had started.

I agree that his positive stance has helped.

But many INDs claim SRT had as many good things to say about Pak or at least our bowling in his time.
 
Hawkeye said:
Yeah except...he was liked from the start. Before all the public praises and from even before PSL had started.

I agree that his positive stance has helped.

But many INDs claim SRT had as many good things to say about Pak or at least our bowling in his time.
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Not sure if he was liked from the beginning. Remember that people hated his guts after the abuse when he made 180 vs pak in Asia cup.
 
Sachin has more fans than Kohli. Pak fans always go against someone majority of Indian fans like.

When discussion was about Sachin and Dravid, they liked Dravid. Called Dravid better batsman. But same fans called Dravid boring when topic was about Dravid vs Inzi.
 
babajee said:
Because Kohli is on another level to the match loser.
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Not a big fan of Sachin, but I wish you could use more knowledge about cricket, has 66% his centuries in winning cause. Now do not let his 100th 100 come in way of discussion. India was batting first and if bowlers could not defend 293 against mighty Bangladesh, it's not Sachin's fault.
 
Kohli is to Pakistani's what Wasim was to Indians when he played and post retirement. Just mutual respect on both sides.
 
1. Kohli hasn't played against us as much, so we aren't put into a situation where we MUST hope he does poorly as often as we did with Sachin facing us regularly.

2. Kohli goes out of his way to show respect to Pakistan, although Sachin was completely respectful as well, but Kohli just goes an extra mile to show respect and class.

3. Pakistanis love a fiery character, it's why we idolize fast bowlers like Akhtar and Waqar and Kohli is a batting equivalent of that sort of character.

Those are some reasons why one may prefer Kohli from a Pakistani POV, I personally just appreciate his skill more which is why I like Kohli over Sachin. Some may argue that Sachin is not less liked in Pakistan etc but the aforementioned points for those who prefer Kohli still stand.
 
Kohli is on another level then Sachin. And yes i grew up watching cricket in the 90s.

Even in the 90's Lara was the best batsman of the era but the sheer number of Indians fans always out supported Lara.
 
Two reasons:

1. Kohli has dominated Pakistan. He is a better finisher and pressure player. His team is mostly on the winning side in the encounters between these teams. Tendulkar's India was regularly beaten by Pakistan and his own performance was below par. Specially, in tests he always stayed under the shadow of Sehwag and Dravid when India started beating Pakistan.

2. Some Pakistani fans genuinely believed that Inzy was a bigger match winner. So, they did not appreciate Tendulkar's brilliance. In this era, no Pakistani batsman is even half as good as Kohli. The gap in quality is huge so most fans do not find it hard to admit it. This is the same reason Indians rate Wasim very high because no Indian bowler could give him competition but they don't give the same respect to Imran because Kapil offers genuine competition.
 
The_Odd_One said:
Two reasons:

1. Kohli has dominated Pakistan. He is a better finisher and pressure player. His team is mostly on the winning side in the encounters between these teams. Tendulkar's India was regularly beaten by Pakistan and his own performance was below par. Specially, in tests he always stayed under the shadow of Sehwag and Dravid when India started beating Pakistan.

2. Some Pakistani fans genuinely believed that Inzy was a bigger match winner. So, they did not appreciate Tendulkar's brilliance. In this era, no Pakistani batsman is even half as good as Kohli. The gap in quality is huge so most fans do not find it hard to admit it. This is the same reason Indians rate Wasim very high because no Indian bowler could give him competition but they don't give the same respect to Imran because Kapil offers genuine competition.
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What a load of rubbish. Kohli was Junaid Khan's and Amir's bunny nunerous time. Babar Azam currently has more runs than Kohli for the same amount of matches. Kohli's good but not perfect. Its the aggressive fast bowler demeanor we like in him
 
An old but relative news. Sachin never had any fan in Pakistan like this . " A Pakistani fan of Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli is in custody after being arrested for hoisting India's flag at his home as a tribute to him."
 
Send1983 said:
Sachin has more fans than Kohli. Pak fans always go against someone majority of Indian fans like.
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That's not really true. Today, Kohli is liked by all in your country.

I guess the reason, apart from his very good gestures towards Pak is, his absolute dominance over Pak bowlers. At least on most occasions!

He has played ruthless knocks against us.. and that earns respect.
 
Hawkeye said:
You will find many mocking, joking about Tendulkar. Some even going on to call him selfish, boring, etc.

And I'm talking about those who saw him play, during his time.

On the contrary, everyone just loves Kohli and have no shame in admitting he's the best.

Why?
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It's the era. During majority of Sachin 's era India was a weak team. Kohli is part of a strong side.
 
Kohli is the product of this generation. Flashy, outspoken, similar to someone straight out a sports Bollywood movie. So obviously he is liked by this generation more as they want their icons to be like that and Pakistan unfortunately does not have such players amongst them yet. In the 90's Pakistan had Wasim, Waqar, Shoaib et all who were charismatic and had loads of fans and were a better team as well. Now they don't have anyone in the caliber of Kohli in terms of cricketing abilities as well as personality wise they pale in comparison to the Indian. No wonder the younger generation is lapping up Virat than the previous generation did with Sachin.

Sachin was more restrained and was not as flashy which probably isn't a crowd puller. Pakistan was a better team in the 90's and also as I mentioned had great players and charismatic as well. There are no cricketing reasons to like Kohli better than Sachin.
 
Sachin hardly played against Pakistan in the 90s. Pakistanis really got to see Sachin after 99 and to be fair he never really lit the skies against us until the 2003 WC game. Also his failure to win the Chennai test made Pakistanis believe he really wasn't a match winner. Being bowled by Shoaib and getting hit on the head a few times also didn't help his cause.

Kohli on the other hand has won most games against Pakistan and is just more of an assertive individual. His presence is more than that of Sachin's, who at times came across as shy. Pakistanis love 'flair' and Kohl has enough of it.
 
It's all about longevity.

Sachin in the 90s was spectacular. He was at the height of his powers and almost unstoppable. However, he changed his game around in the latter half of his career and that has settled into the minds of most casual fans.

Don't get me wrong, he was absolutely fantastic and better than most but not as good as those prime years. This might be the reason for the faded appreciation for what he's done.

Kohli, on the other hand, is smack dab in the middle of his prime. He has so many high-pressure innings under his belt (including vs. Pakistan) that it's put him at a higher level in terms of popularity. Plus, he's done very well in building a positive relationship with Pakistani fans through actions and words. It all starts to add up.
 
He is the only Macho Man figure Asian cricket has produced..
 
Hawkeye said:
That's not really true. Today, Kohli is liked by all in your country.

I guess the reason, apart from his very good gestures towards Pak is, his absolute dominance over Pak bowlers. At least on most occasions!

He has played ruthless knocks against us.. and that earns respect.
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Lol. Sachin has played lot more ruthless knocks against your team. Looks like you didn’t watch Sachin’s innings against your team in 2003 WC. None of Kohli’s knock is as good as that one.

Sachin has way more fans than Kohli. Ofcourse we all like Kohli too. If given option to choose one almost all who grew up in 80s and 90s would choose Sachin.
 
Chrish said:
He is the only Macho Man figure Asian cricket has produced..
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Spot on. If comparison is between Sachin and Imran, obviously everyone would pick Sachin whereas Kohli is still playing, can’t be said at this time that he is overall better than Imran.
 
Pakistan was a pretty good team up until early 2000s. So, there was always a sense of competition and in tern hostility between two teams.

But in current time after Misba-Yunis departure, Pak fans have simply accepted that India is currently superior team. So, they have welcomed Kohli without the sense of animosity arising from the competition.
 
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Chrish said:
Pakistan was a pretty good team up until early 2000s. So, there was always a sense of competition and in tern hostility between two teams.

But in current time after Misba-Yunis departure, Pak fans have simply accepted that India is currently superior team. So, they have welcomed Kohli without the sense of animosity arising from the competition.
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Again. I could not agree more.
 
Hawkeye said:
Yeah except...he was liked from the start. Before all the public praises and from even before PSL had started.

I agree that his positive stance has helped.

But many INDs claim SRT had as many good things to say about Pak or at least our bowling in his time.
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Oh no dude, no one liked Kohli till atleast 2011-12 as far as I remember, even then some people would say Umar Akmal is much better than Kohli, and it was on this forum that we saw this general opinion.

However I would say is his 180 odd vs Pakistan chasing 300+ in Bangladesh, and the subsequent knocks he played after that. Some played in Sydney vs Srilanka and Australia made alot of people realize Kohli is on another level.

By 2015, we were dropping catches off Kohli in the world cup, certifying that the kohli hype had even reached the players and we knew he was the prize wicket.
 
I think Kohli is always viewed as someone who if scores 80+ would win you the game. I feel the same could not be said about Sachin since India did not win a lot of games when Sachin scored 100s. It was perhaps more to do with Sachins team mates rather than Sachin himself but I think Kohli gets a lot of respect because he really takes the game by the scruff and ensures a win for his team something which Sachin did too but nor as regularly as Kohli.

Also yes he has been generous in praise towards Pakistan.
 
The fans who loved tendu has got married, has kids, and struggle on their own life with family and work. Hence, you won't hear much about Tendulkar anymore. He's not THAT relevant.

Kohli is current big thing. Forums, internet are filled with schools/college kids and they feel connection with kohli more than Tendulkar. Hence you will see more praising for kohli.

Go back to old pp threads and you'll see same reaction for Tendulkar also.
 
rhony said:
When his own teammates were sceptical about Amir, Kohli went out of his way to embrace Amir. When no Indian cared about PSL, Kohli wished the best for Karachi Kings. When a certain Indian player fought with Afridi, Kohli sent a signed tshirt to Afridi foundation.

Imran rated Inzi more than Sachin. The same Imran can't get enough of Kohli. Miandad, Wasim, Saqlain sang praises of Kohli many times in the media.

There is this burning desire among Pakistanis to have 1 batsman like Kohli in their team. His aggression is more Pakistani like instead of typical sedate and humble Indian players. They try to compare every new batsman with Kohli because that's the bench mark in their eyes.
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This.

While Pakistani fans accepted the greatness of Tendulkar's batting not many were in total awe of it.

With Kohli it is something else. Most Pakistani fans wish that Kohli, and Kohli specifically, was one of ours. With Tendulkar it wasnt the same. More than likely if any of the great batsmen of that era was offered to Pakistan, the fans would invariably go first for one of the geniuses in Ponting or Lara
 
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Chrish said:
He is the only Macho Man figure Asian cricket has produced..
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Imran Khan says hi. He was on another level. Cricketing elite and even British royalty wanted to be associated with him
 
kuskash said:
Not a big fan of Sachin, but I wish you could use more knowledge about cricket, has 66% his centuries in winning cause. Now do not let his 100th 100 come in way of discussion. India was batting first and if bowlers could not defend 293 against mighty Bangladesh, it's not Sachin's fault.
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66% is actually a fairly mediocre percentage

Anyways facts for ODIs are this:

For Tendulkar, 67% of his centuries resulted in wins
For Ponting, 83% of his centuries resulted in wins.

I know for Ponting you will bring the old, worn out argument of him being part of better teams. So lets bring in Lara, who was certainly part of inferior teams. Heck for Lara even, 84% of his centuries resulted in wins. So there's that.

You can thank me for increasing your knowledge!
 
KhanNn said:
What a load of rubbish. Kohli was Junaid Khan's and Amir's bunny nunerous time. Babar Azam currently has more runs than Kohli for the same amount of matches. Kohli's good but not perfect. Its the aggressive fast bowler demeanor we like in him
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So Kohli has been dismissed by Amir just once in his career and he becomes his 'bunny'. Just wow.
 
kuskash said:
Not a big fan of Sachin, but I wish you could use more knowledge about cricket, has 66% his centuries in winning cause. Now do not let his 100th 100 come in way of discussion. India was batting first and if bowlers could not defend 293 against mighty Bangladesh, it's not Sachin's fault.
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India bowled badly. Agreed.

But it doesn't mean that Sachin is not to blame. His strike rate was a pathetic 77 after facing half of the 50 overs.
 
Sachin is the most over cricketer India has ever produced. At the same time, he is not exactly a fountain of charisma. He was also put on a crazy pedestal by Indian fans by calling him God and all (I know Hayden essentially started it but folks ran with it) which rubs some Pakistani fans the wrong way because they do not like the word God thrown around frivolously.

Kohli has not been put on the same pedestal yet and he also reminds Pakistanis of some yesteryear players who used to have the same brashness like Viv. Kohli has also been openly supportive of Pakistani players and that has resulted in a warmer reaction to him.
 
Slog said:
66% is actually a fairly mediocre percentage

Anyways facts for ODIs are this:

For Tendulkar, 67% of his centuries resulted in wins
For Ponting, 83% of his centuries resulted in wins.

I know for Ponting you will bring the old, worn out argument of him being part of better teams. So lets bring in Lara, who was certainly part of inferior teams. Heck for Lara even, 84% of his centuries resulted in wins. So there's that.

You can thank me for increasing your knowledge!
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It is 84% of 19 tons vs 66% of 49. Your chances of educating people have drastic gone down at Sackerfice.
 
leatherface58 said:
Sachin is the most over cricketer India has ever produced. At the same time, he is not exactly a fountain of charisma. He was also put on a crazy pedestal by Indian fans by calling him God and all (I know Hayden essentially started it but folks ran with it) which rubs some Pakistani fans the wrong way because they do not like the word God thrown around frivolously.

Kohli has not been put on the same pedestal yet and he also reminds Pakistanis of some yesteryear players who used to have the same brashness like Viv. Kohli has also been openly supportive of Pakistani players and that has resulted in a warmer reaction to him.
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Tbh Tendulkar was never anti-Pakistan either. Actually he was one of the first major non-Pakistani cricketing legend to welcome back Amir. And often has had to say positive things about Imran, Wasim and even Afridi
 
The simple answer is - Kohli tries too hard to win the hearts of pakistani fans! He pretends extra sweet on media and during the post match presentations. I haven't seen Kohli gifting his bats to Indian players or talk or wish about any other T20 leagues in the world. Yes! Kohli is not as humble as he appears on screen. This guy knows where to act smart and sometimes goes overboard to please Pakistanis way too much! I haven't seen him appreciating other team players in Post-match presentations as much as he does during Pak games. Why other teams? this guy hardly talks about other Indian players in the presentations. But when it comes to matches against Pakistan, he's heaps praises for Amir. It's just a psychological game he plays and Pakistanis feel 'wow! Kohli is humble'. Lot of you have no idea how he behaves in RCB camps with his own teammates. Yes! I tell this cause I live in Bengaluru and have heard tales from RCB camp-mates about his personality and attitude towards players 'behind the scenes' during RCB matches.

On the other hand, Sachin ha the same personality everyhwhere! Just cause he'sn't praising Pakistan as much as Kohli, doesn't make him meek or any less! That's the way he is! In fact Sachin had tougher Pakistani bowlers to face during his days. Shoib, Wasim, Waqar, Saqln against Sachin is more lethal than Amir bowling to Kohli. The competition to Kohli is too less from the opposition. You take out Aamir from your bowling attack and there are no other bowlers to instill fear in Kohli's play. But it's not the same during Sachin' days. Sachin had lethal attack of Akthar, Wasim and Waqar to face and though he failed in few instances, Sachin had balls to destroy this attack when he was in his zone. I have seen Sachin bashin Akhtar for sixes on will but I can sure say Kohli can never dominate Aamir. Yes! He's a mental midget when it comes to facing Aamir. But on his day, Sachin toyed with Akthar and Wasim's attack. There were days Akthar instilled fear in Sachin and owned him too. But the competition was quite intense and I can never witness such intense fight in the current day cricket with the likes of Meeky Kohli facing Aamir and tuk tuking until Aamir finishes his spell. But he balances it out by praising Aamir and we fans think 'wow! kohli is so humble'. Well! To cut the long story short! Pakistanis like Kohli more because he never had the balls to destroy the only supreme bolwer that he faced i.e. Aamir. I'm no fan or Sachin nor a hater of Kohli. But I do know Kohli's off-field antics with his own teammates and hence throwing some light on this matter.
 
Sachin is a sore loser, he congratulated Indian hockey team after the CT final while he was watching it live :)))
 
Tyler Durden said:
The simple answer is - Kohli tries too hard to win the hearts of pakistani fans! He pretends extra sweet on media and during the post match presentations. I haven't seen Kohli gifting his bats to Indian players or talk or wish about any other T20 leagues in the world. Yes! Kohli is not as humble as he appears on screen. This guy knows where to act smart and sometimes goes overboard to please Pakistanis way too much! I haven't seen him appreciating other team players in Post-match presentations as much as he does during Pak games. Why other teams? this guy hardly talks about other Indian players in the presentations. But when it comes to matches against Pakistan, he's heaps praises for Amir. It's just a psychological game he plays and Pakistanis feel 'wow! Kohli is humble'. Lot of you have no idea how he behaves in RCB camps with his own teammates. Yes! I tell this cause I live in Bengaluru and have heard tales from RCB camp-mates about his personality and attitude towards players 'behind the scenes' during RCB matches.

On the other hand, Sachin ha the same personality everyhwhere! Just cause he'sn't praising Pakistan as much as Kohli, doesn't make him meek or any less! That's the way he is! In fact Sachin had tougher Pakistani bowlers to face during his days. Shoib, Wasim, Waqar, Saqln against Sachin is more lethal than Amir bowling to Kohli. The competition to Kohli is too less from the opposition. You take out Aamir from your bowling attack and there are no other bowlers to instill fear in Kohli's play. But it's not the same during Sachin' days. Sachin had lethal attack of Akthar, Wasim and Waqar to face and though he failed in few instances, Sachin had balls to destroy this attack when he was in his zone. I have seen Sachin bashin Akhtar for sixes on will but I can sure say Kohli can never dominate Aamir. Yes! He's a mental midget when it comes to facing Aamir. But on his day, Sachin toyed with Akthar and Wasim's attack. There were days Akthar instilled fear in Sachin and owned him too. But the competition was quite intense and I can never witness such intense fight in the current day cricket with the likes of Meeky Kohli facing Aamir and tuk tuking until Aamir finishes his spell. But he balances it out by praising Aamir and we fans think 'wow! kohli is so humble'. Well! To cut the long story short! Pakistanis like Kohli more because he never had the balls to destroy the only supreme bolwer that he faced i.e. Aamir. I'm no fan or Sachin nor a hater of Kohli. But I do know Kohli's off-field antics with his own teammates and hence throwing some light on this matter.
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This....He knows his majority fan base is India and pakistan.Tendulkar was liked,respected everywhere even in Australia but cannot say the same for Kohli.I liked that era of Indian cricket when we had Dravid,Tendu,Jumbo,Laxman etc who were true gentleman.In India many people are more in Awe of Ab de villears as compared to Kohli.Dont know why Pakistanis like him when he uses insulting language like shaam tak khelenge to...etc and behaves like a buffoon on the field.I think this is also the reason Misbah does not get the credit and respect he deserves as they see him as meek.Guess what this is cricket not Wwe
 
Slog said:
Yes. One has also played almost 150 extra innings so try again!
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150 extra innings in which he scored 30 more hundreds including the first ever double hundred. Sachin even started his career at #6 and so. So it is not like he was top order from day 1.
 
They had answers for Tendulkar.

They dont have any answer for Kohli though. This is why Pakistanis love Kohli. That ruthlessness is also one major reason behind it. They never find the ruthlessness in other Indian players which they find in Kohli.

In contrast, Indians have great awe for players who have immense ability and can do kind of stuffs which only genius can do. This is why they have lots of love and respect for players like Tendulkar, Wasim and AB de Villiers. These guys were genius and can do stuffs which not all can do. That is why they are in awe of that.
 
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sully3 said:
Kohli is on another level then Sachin. And yes i grew up watching cricket in the 90s.

Even in the 90's Lara was the best batsman of the era but the sheer number of Indians fans always out supported Lara.
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Can you supported that with facts? Sachin averaged 59 during those 10 years with a century per 4 innings (approx). Lara averaged 51 odd with a century per 8.5 innings (approx).
 
Hitman said:
Can you supported that with facts? Sachin averaged 59 during those 10 years with a century per 4 innings (approx). Lara averaged 51 odd with a century per 8.5 innings (approx).
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Minus Zimbabwe, of course.
 
Kholi is a great batsman, much better than Tendulkar in my opinion.
However, Tendulkar is a respected person throughout the Cricketing World but Kholi is not, due to his persistent petulance, arrogance and immature aggression.
 
Slog said:
Imran Khan says hi. He was on another level. Cricketing elite and even British royalty wanted to be associated with him
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As a captain yes, but as a Cricketer he didn't have that "presence" on the field..
 
Chrish said:
As a captain yes, but as a Cricketer he didn't have that "presence" on the field..
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Almost every ex cricketer like Viv or Ian Chappell says otherwise... You really need to get your head out of the sand if you seriously believe this!
 
Kohli is a better player in my opinion.

But he has better relationships with Paksitani players and is likable as well. Tendulkar is known to pull dick moves like congratulate the Indian Hockey team for their victory over the Pakistan team on the same day when Pakistan thrashed India in the CT Final 2017. Gestures like those don't earn you points among Pakistan fans.
 
Slog said:
Almost every ex cricketer like Viv or Ian Chappell says otherwise... You really need to get your head out of the sand if you seriously believe this!
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I am not old enough to have seen him play, but he was considered pretty insipid as a batsman; the role he played for good part of his later career.

As I have mentioned several times before, I don't use opinions of ex-cricketers to prove any arguments.
 
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Kohli
1) Kohli has the macho and go getter vibe.
2) Kohli is more passionate in his outward look. Be it when he scores a century or Be it when India takes a wicket.
3) Kohli has made a reputation of chasing big totals with ease.
4) Kohli is a Punjabi. Probably some Punjabi connection.

Sachin
1) Very mellow and meek in body language
2) Not passionate. At best he takes of his helmet and looks at the sun
3) Has made a reputation of bottling under pressure
4) No cultural connection to Pakistanis
 
Tendulkar is much more strongly associated with the poor Indian team of the 90s. In that period Pakistan had the better team, the richer board, the better facilities and there was nothing about Indian cricket that was worth aspiring towards. We were ahead of India as a cricket power, and daresay even as a country.

With Kohli it's different. India has emerged as Cricket's undisputed superpower, their team is without doubt the best going around right now (Pakistani fans will troll saying otherwise in the face of Indian arrogance, but we're not blind), the country has moved forward and more importantly they play cricket with a real aggression and passion. And Kohli has been central to that transformation, while we went the other way (for mainly good and some bad) under Misbah who was a much more mellow leader. Plus I've genuinely not seen a batsman dominate the way Kohli does.

Oh and he doesn't see the need to act like a holy cow the way Tendulkar does. He's always been friendly to Pakistan despite the situation between the countries. I would kill to see him play a match in Karachi! Even when the Indian team of 2004-2005 came which in my eyes was one of the best teams I've seen tour Pakistan, Sachin was not the centre of attention for Pakistanis. We admired Ganguly much more for his aggressive captaincy, Dravid for how he carried himself/performed and even Sehwag for how he batted. The most popular player if I remember was Balaji (there was a hilarious chant there too!).

Sachin didn't figure in that list. Kohli would be #1 without doubt.
 
It's due to the love he has shown for Pakistani players and about PSL and all. Sachin comes across as little man from heart. Have never liked sachin. Even in the last match pak vs w.indies if I remember correctly a man was carrying a poster about virat. He is respected by most of the Pakistanis.
 
kingusama92 said:
It's all about longevity.

Sachin in the 90s was spectacular. He was at the height of his powers and almost unstoppable. However, he changed his game around in the latter half of his career and that has settled into the minds of most casual fans.

Don't get me wrong, he was absolutely fantastic and better than most but not as good as those prime years. This might be the reason for the faded appreciation for what he's done.

Kohli, on the other hand, is smack dab in the middle of his prime. He has so many high-pressure innings under his belt (including vs. Pakistan) that it's put him at a higher level in terms of popularity. Plus, he's done very well in building a positive relationship with Pakistani fans through actions and words. It all starts to add up.
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Lols you are taking about Sachin’s greatness in 90s as if you used to watch him in 90s. How old were you back then? :D
 
Chrish said:
I am not old enough to have seen him play, but he was considered pretty insipid as a batsman; the role he played for good part of his later career.

As I have mentioned several times before, I don't use opinions of ex-cricketers to prove any arguments.
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Well you are free to have ridiculous metrics which confirm your biases. But I hope you are rational enough to understand why I'd rather give weight to opinions of ex cricketers who have achieved a lot in the game and now coach or commentate over an opinion of a random poster over the Internet who talks a load of nonsense from time to time
 
Kohli is brave and taken on everything head-on. He manners might not be admirable at times but he is genuine in his approach and carry's heart on his sleeves. His is punjabi as well and has shown on many occasions that he has a big heart, all these things make him very likeable for Pakistanies specially Panjabies.

Sachin with all his greatness never expressed himself on the opposition with a killer instinct. Though he was the most prized wicket but he was never a feared batsman for the opposition who would take the game away . As a person also he never showed his emotions and nor his openheartedness for oppositions. Always thought he was too self consumed in his batting and could not see beyond that.


So Kohli is definitely the most liked Indian cricketer of all times in Pakistan .
 
My reasons:

1. Kohli is not a selfish player.
2. Kohli is a match winner.
3. Kohli gives press conferences and has a laugh.
4. Kohli gives credit where it is due.
5. Kohli has not ball tampered.

You only have to look at Kohlis response compared to SRT's response on Afridi-gate to see who is more sensible and respectable.
 
Rishta Aunty said:
Tendulkar is much more strongly associated with the poor Indian team of the 90s. In that period Pakistan had the better team, the richer board, the better facilities and there was nothing about Indian cricket that was worth aspiring towards. We were ahead of India as a cricket power, and daresay even as a country.

With Kohli it's different. India has emerged as Cricket's undisputed superpower, their team is without doubt the best going around right now (Pakistani fans will troll saying otherwise in the face of Indian arrogance, but we're not blind), the country has moved forward and more importantly they play cricket with a real aggression and passion. And Kohli has been central to that transformation, while we went the other way (for mainly good and some bad) under Misbah who was a much more mellow leader. Plus I've genuinely not seen a batsman dominate the way Kohli does.

Oh and he doesn't see the need to act like a holy cow the way Tendulkar does. He's always been friendly to Pakistan despite the situation between the countries. I would kill to see him play a match in Karachi! Even when the Indian team of 2004-2005 came which in my eyes was one of the best teams I've seen tour Pakistan, Sachin was not the centre of attention for Pakistanis. We admired Ganguly much more for his aggressive captaincy, Dravid for how he carried himself/performed and even Sehwag for how he batted. The most popular player if I remember was Balaji (there was a hilarious chant there too!).

Sachin didn't figure in that list. Kohli would be #1 without doubt.
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that was undisputed :).. he was very popular in India too due to his infectious smile and down to earth behavior

regarding the topic at hand, in general Pakistanis like players who are aggressive and brash (real or fake). They also seem to idolize players who project flawed genius image. Virat, Saurav all fit more into that mold more than Sachin.. Also Virat is a Punjabi and obviously will be more popular at least in Punjab in Pakistan. I remember even Yuvraj was quite popular in Pak. Dravid is popular all over the country, i have hardly seen anyone who detest him and i am on all popular cricket blogs :). It is same with Misbah although people might question him on his cricketing feats I don't think there is anyone even in India who don't respect him.
 
Sachin hurt Pakistan more than Kohli, especially in world cups. Also there were a lot of ODI games agains5 pak in 90s in places like Sharjah and Canada. Sachin was the main player from India scoring runs most of those games. Kohli has hardly played against Pak. Once Kohli plays few crucial World Cup knocks against Pakistan, they will start hating him as well.
 
Kohli is a fierce competitor, he will play hard but fair. He doesn't back down or hide. After a defeat he acknowledges the opponent's efforts. All qualities that we Pakistanis appreciate.


Sachin on the other hand is meek and someone who goes into hiding. He is also not man enough to appreciate his competitors after a defeat. All signs of a small man syndrome.
 
Syed1 said:
Kohli is a fierce competitor, he will play hard but fair. He doesn't back down or hide. After a defeat he acknowledges the opponent's efforts. All qualities that we Pakistanis appreciate.


Sachin on the other hand is meek and someone who goes into hiding. He is also not man enough to appreciate his competitors after a defeat. All signs of a small man syndrome.
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Lol. Clearly see the hatred. That 2003 WC knock is still hurting. He never let pak win any big ODI games like kohli did. (Ct final)
 
Another reason why they hate Sachin in general is he thrashed their phaaast bowlers Wasim, Waqar and Shoaib. I still remember how he thrashed Waqar in Canada and shoaib in that famous WC game.
 
Kohli is a man from Punjabi roots. He himself has deep connections to Pakistan. He is amongst the nice Indian cricketers like Mahdendra Singh Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh.

Tendulkar and Gambhir are considered enemy of Pakistan. Just like Waqar Younis and Javed Miandad are enemies of India.
 
Two main reasons:
1. Kohli is a much superior player
2. Kohli is very relatable for Pakistanis; same roots as us, same aggressive personality and approach

Tendulkar is a gentleman and an ATG player himself, but maybe lacked the charisma and relatability for Pakistanis. Also think it annoys most non-Indians how Tendulkar is built up to be larger than life by Indians, so it may unfairly impact his perception as it's not really Tendulkar's fault.
 
Send1983 said:
Sachin hurt Pakistan more than Kohli, especially in world cups. Also there were a lot of ODI games agains5 pak in 90s in places like Sharjah and Canada. Sachin was the main player from India scoring runs most of those games. Kohli has hardly played against Pak. Once Kohli plays few crucial World Cup knocks against Pakistan, they will start hating him as well.
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Not true. Kohli usually performs against us, as he does against most teams. TBH from the previous generation, Sehwag hurt us the most, way more than Tendulkar. Tendulkar is a great player, but there was always a feeling that he could be overcome and defeated. Even when he scored heavily, he didn't run away with the game.

Really comes down to Kohli being a better player + more like personality.
 
Send1983 said:
Another reason why they hate Sachin in general is he thrashed their phaaast bowlers Wasim, Waqar and Shoaib. I still remember how he thrashed Waqar in Canada and shoaib in that famous WC game.
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You seem to be very upset. No one hates SRT.

Cricket exists beyond WC games. So Pakistan hate SRT because of a couple of WC matches according to you?

We all felt sorry for SRT when Shoaib handed SRT his first ever Golden duck in Chennai, 1999, Test match. I felt more sorry for Dravid in the previous ball to be honest, he was playing so well. Not forgetting how Pakistani bowlers have tamed SRTs average to the extent SRT has the lowest career average vs Pakistan compared with all nations he has played against.

Many Indian players have beaten Pakistan in WCs, Tests, ODIs etc, but are not disliked, but revered - Dravid, Gavaskar, and Dev to name a few. You see, the real reason is why SRT was/is disliked, is believe it or not, Indians, or Sachinistas, who couldn't take any criticism, comparison, comment on SRT. The in your face arrogance of *GOD is batting* coupled with the complete disregard for the remaining Indian players who contributed equally, if not far more to India's cricket than SRT, is the main factor behind the dislike of SRT, not boundaries. (Just like you at the moment and the way you are acting). Heck, even today, SRT fans have no respect for Kohli's achievements.

Kohli on the other hand, is letting his bat and personality do the talking, has the bottle to face the press even in defeat, has the courage to admit when he is wrong, gives credit where it is due. Irony being Kohli is liked more because he seems human.
 
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This I think, is because Tendulkar used to give us lots of trouble, Kohli, so far, has not !!!
 
Send1983 said:
Another reason why they hate Sachin in general is he thrashed their phaaast bowlers Wasim, Waqar and Shoaib. I still remember how he thrashed Waqar in Canada and shoaib in that famous WC game.
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Thrashed Wasim? No, he was dropped of Wasim's bowling in 03 when Wasim and Waqar were well past their primes. However, Tendulkar was brilliant vs Shoaib- i am glad to give credit when credit is due.
 
Sachin, if you read on him around the 1990's and onwards, had a bit of anti-Pak sentiment towards playing/touring Pakistan...no wonder it rubbed Pakistanis the wrong way. Ever since, I believe he lost a fair bit of fans who liked him despite being from India, the cricketing enemy from across the border!

That coupled with his meek body language, lack of any charishma, never really saying anything positive in support of Pak team or Pak in general (unless really pushed in an interview or something) probably cuased people to look for other replacements like Dravid. Despite him being very quite/shy, being more effective against Pak especially in tests etc. he was and is very much liked and respected to this day.

FYI - A fan of Sachin and don't like my views, tough!
 
Monsee said:
Sachin, if you read on him around the 1990's and onwards, had a bit of anti-Pak sentiment towards playing/touring Pakistan...no wonder it rubbed Pakistanis the wrong way. Ever since, I believe he lost a fair bit of fans who liked him despite being from India, the cricketing enemy from across the border!

That coupled with his meek body language, lack of any charishma, never really saying anything positive in support of Pak team or Pak in general (unless really pushed in an interview or something) probably cuased people to look for other replacements like Dravid. Despite him being very quite/shy, being more effective against Pak especially in tests etc. he was and is very much liked and respected to this day.

FYI - A fan of Sachin and don't like my views, tough!
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I think Sachin's hate for Pakistan is for 2 reasons.

1. His International debut was playing FOR Pakistan, not India.
2. SRT got bounced and ended up with a bloody nose when he played for India for the first time. (Same match as Waqar Younis debuted for Pakistan).
 
R3verse Swing said:
I think Sachin's hate for Pakistan is for 2 reasons.

1. His International debut was playing FOR Pakistan, not India.
2. SRT got bounced and ended up with a bloody nose when he played for India for the first time. (Same match as Waqar Younis debuted for Pakistan).
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Kohli what you see is what you get. Huge respect on how he conducts himself off the field.

Sachin always came across as sneaky and selfish - which you could see many times on the field.

I will never forget Tendus Prem Chopra evil smile when he edged a ball off Razzaq in a 2005 Test match ball but refused to walk when it was so clear he hit it. Lost huge respect for him after that and his true colours shined through.
 
I’m pretty sure 95% of non Indians would agree that Kohli is a better player than Sachin.

Sachinistas have to defend Sachin by bringing up non cricketing reasons like saying he was a shining light in the dark days of Indian cricket. Says it all really :)
 
I have watched Sachin play and am watching Kohli play. Sachin was a great batsman don't get me wrong, but with him Pakistan always felt like they were in the game even if he was scoring. Maybe because for much of his career we had ATGs like Wasim and Waqar in our bowling attack. Heck even when Sachin played well Pakistan still ended up winning often times.



However, Kohli is a completely different beast. If he gets set he only rests after he has won India the match. He has hardly played against us but he has already exhibited that trait two or three times, the Asia Cup in which he scored 180 odd, Asia Cup where Amir's spell put India in a spot of bother, World T20 etc.


A set Kohli is a much more difficult opponent than a set Sachin. We just never felt the kind of unease with Sachin that we feel when Kohli is batting. That is a fact. May not go down well with Indians.
 
hk031992 said:
Thrashed Wasim? No, he was dropped of Wasim's bowling in 03 when Wasim and Waqar were well past their primes. However, Tendulkar was brilliant vs Shoaib- i am glad to give credit when credit is due.
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Go watch 90s Sharjah games. Ofcourse not as much as he did against Waqar and Shoaib.
 
Both brilliant players, 2 of the best ever to play the game. Tendulkar played under more pressure and was more stats driven, Kohli plays in era where the bowling is weaker but he is sensational.
 
Hawkeye said:
You will find many mocking, joking about Tendulkar. Some even going on to call him selfish, boring, etc.

And I'm talking about those who saw him play, during his time.

On the contrary, everyone just loves Kohli and have no shame in admitting he's the best.

Why?
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I don't think that is true at all. Tendulkar was held in very high esteem, possibly the highest esteem in Pakistan and by Pakistanis.

Kohli however is the flavour of the month and is highly promoted and talked about in cricketing circles, I don't think that makes him more liked overall. Tendulkar is still the post Viv benchmark for batsmen.
 
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