Legendary South African batsman Barry Richards feels Virat Kohli is a few notches above his contemporaries in the Indian team but still has some way to go before one can compare him with the iconic Sachin Tendulkar.
“Virat Kohli undoubtedly is the best batsman in this current Indian team by a distance. He is really talented and is someone, whom you will like to pay to watch his batting.
“Along with A.B. de Villiers, he is amongst the top batsmen in world cricket today,” Richards, one of the most respected voices in world cricket, said.
Sir Donald Bradman was believed to have considered Richards as one of the finest right-handers at par with Jack Hobbs and Len Hutton.
When asked how did he rate Ajinkya Rahane and Shikhar Dhawan compared to Kohli, Richards’s answer resembled the same nonchalance.
“No way (he shrugged). They are not even close to Kohli.
“He is in a league of his own. You like the way he builds an innings. The hallmark of a good batsman is to control the pace of his innings and Kohli does it with ease. He will definitely get better,” said 69-year-old Richards. However, the batting great feels that Kohli still needs a bit more finesse in his execution before he can be compared with Tendulkar.
“Tendulkar’s range of strokes was extraordinary, which Kohli still has some way to go,” Richards said.
