Sachin vs Kohli: Who is better at their peak in Tests?

Numerous similarities between the greats of the game have been made since Virat Kohli took over the Indian batting duties from Sachin Tendulkar. They are both regarded as maybe India’s best players in the format. In this post, we’ll contrast the two-game classics at their absolute heights.

We will look at the years in which they scored the most runs in order to determine their peaks. When Sachin scored 1562 runs, it was in the year 2010, whilst Kohli scored 1322 runs in the year 2018. 

Sachin Tendulkar in 2010

India tour of Bangladesh

In his first test match of the year against Bangladesh in Chattogram, Bangladesh, the God of Cricket got the year off to a spectacular start by scoring a century. In the first innings, he scored 105* points. He added another century in the second innings of the following game in Mirpur. Tendulkar ran 143 runs for runs.

South Africa tour of India

He continued his record of centuries by scoring a century at Nagpur against South Africa. He once again scored a century in Eden Gardens in the next game. He had four centuries in the four games.

India tour of Sri Lanka

He came dangerously close to recording his sixth straight century during his subsequent away game in Sri Lanka. He scored a half-century in the third inning of the first game of the series, falling just 16 runs short of his century. He made up for not hitting a century in the second game by hitting a double century in the second innings. He got a half-century and another knock of 41 runs in the third game of the series.

Australia tour of India

After that, Australia played a two-match series in India. Tendulkar opened the game with a score of 98, falling short of his fourth century of the year. He again missed out on a century in a game, but he quickly followed it up in the Bengaluru encounter with a double century and another half-century.

New Zealand tour of India

Sachin had one of his worst series of the year when New Zealand came to India for a three-match series. In the series, he amassed 126 runs in four innings and one half-century at Nagpur.

India tour of South Africa

Sachin travelled to South Africa for his final tour of the year in order to take on what might be the year’s most difficult task. He made a century in the first game at Centurion but had a bad performance in the second game in Durban when he only managed scores of 13 and 6.

Virat Kohli in 2018

India tour of South Africa

Virat Kohli’s year began with a visit to South Africa, whilst Sachin’s final series of 2010 occurred when India toured South Africa. Kohli got off to a bad start at Cape Town in the first game of the year, scoring only 5 and 28. He made up for his shaky start in the next game by scoring 153 runs in Centurion. India participated in the third test at Johannesburg, where Kohli amassed 51 runs in the first innings and 41 runs in the third.

India tour of England

India’s most challenging task after South Africa was when they were touring England. India’s first trip to England since 2014, when Virat Kohli was playing at his worst, was during this trip. In the 2014 tour, Kohli averaged barely 13.40 runs per innings while scoring 134 runs in 10 innings, with a best score of 39. While India was touring England, Kohli now had a point to make.

In the opening match in Birmingham, India’s run machine scored 149 runs in the second innings and 50 runs in the fourth innings. Kohli scored 23 runs in the first inning of the second game at Lord’s and 17 runs in the third. Kohli once again demonstrated in Nottingham’s third game that he has significantly improved since 2014. He scored 97 runs in the first inning but fell short of his century. However, he went over the century mark by scoring 103 runs in the third inning. Kohli hit a half-century in the fourth inning of the series’ penultimate game at Southampton, and he added 46 runs in the second inning. Kohli scored 49 runs in the second inning of the tour’s final game at The Oval before leaving the field with a duck in the fourth.

West Indies tour of India

When the West Indies came to India for a two-match series, Kohli hit 139 in the first innings of the first game in Rajkot. In the first innings of the second game at Hyderabad, he scored 45 runs. 

India tour of Australia

Another difficulty came to a head as India’s tour of Australia came to a conclusion in 2018. India was seen to have the best chance of winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia during this visit because the Australian team was without players like David Warner and Steve Smith.

At Adelaide, Kohli scored 3 and 34 in the opening game. The Indian captain scored a century in the second inning of Perth’s second game and 17 runs in the fourth inning. Kohli scored 82 runs in the first inning of the year’s final game in Melbourne before recording a duck in the third inning.

Sachin vs Kohli: Who is better?

There are valid arguments for both players. On the one hand, Sachin scored all of these runs against players like Dale Steyn, Muttiah Muralitharan, Mitchell Johnson, and others when he was 37 years old. On the other side, Virat primarily scored runs in favourable bowling environments. It would be difficult to choose just one of these two outstanding performances, but Sachin and Kohli will make it into any international team after seeing any of these two performances, it is clear.