Former Australia pacer Brett Lee believes that India skipper Virat Kohli could go past legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar.
According to Lee, three factors work in favour of the current India captain in surpassing Tendulkar’s cricketing feats.
“It comes down to three things, there is one thing I would like to eliminate – so, you talk about talent as a batsman, he’s definitely got that talent, eliminate that first and foremost,” Lee said while speaking on Star Sports ‘Cricket Connected’ show as quoted by IANS.
“Then fitness – Virat Kohli has got that fitness, so for me it is all about fitness at the age of 30 and also that mental strength, the mental capacity to get through those hard times, being away from home, from his wife, or when they will have children.
“He will do it easily with his talent, it comes down to his mental strength and if he stays fit enough and I believe he has got all those three components to go past Sachin,” the former speedster added.
Tendulkar has 100 centuries to his name across Tests and ODIs. In 463 ODIs, Tendulkar scored 18,426 runs while in 200 Tests, he has 15,921 runs.
Meanwhile, Kohli himself is one of the modern greats. His records, especially in the white-ball format, are staggering. The classy right-hander averages above 50 in all forms of international cricket.
In Tests, Kohli has scored 7240 runs, and in ODIs, he has scored 11867 runs so far. The Delhi born cricketer has scored 43 ODI centuries and 27 in the longest format of the game.
“We are talking about phenomenal numbers here, so you mentioned seven to eight years of cricket and at the rate he (Virat Kohli) is going, yes, he can definitely knock it off,” said Lee.
(With inputs from IANS)