Cricket is widely watched sport in the world. It has active viewership of more than 2 billion. Cricket is like a festival in many South Asian countries. One of the biggest examples of that is India. India is a greatly cricket-loving nation. People of India treated cricket like a religion.
Therefore, the star players of their countries treated like a God as well. Sachin Tendulkar, who was greatest-ever batsmen of India got title of God of Cricket. After his retirement, Indian fans is very passionate to give the title of 2nd God of Cricket Two players are in the race to get this title, Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni. Let’s compare players stats to meet the end results.
Sachin Tendulkar (God of Cricket)
Before, getting in deeper analysis of Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni services for India, let’s get a overview of Sachin Tendulkar’s career.
Sachin’s Debut
Sachin Tendulkar made his international debut for India in 1989 against Pakistan in Karachi. In his first international match, Sachin did not get much chance to showcase his batting talent to the world.
Sachin only batted in the first inning of the match and scored only 15 runs and got bowled by Waqar Younis. However, India was in commanding position to win that match but match got draw.
Sachin Records for India
Sachin Tendulkar played international cricket for India for 4 decades, earning huge respect and records for India.
Highest run scorer in the history of cricket
Sachin Tendulkar was known for his batting masterclass worldwide. Therefore, he made more than 34,000 runs for India in international cricket which makes him the highest run scorer in the history of cricket.
It was not a single record which was enough to get the title of God of Cricket. There are many other records that Sachin Tendulkar made for India.
Only batsman to score 100 centuries in cricket
Sachin Tendulkar made a record which is still unbroken, however, availability of flat pitches worldwide and more favors to batsmen.
Sachin Tendulkar scored 51 centuries in test cricket and 49 centuries in ODI including 2 double centuries for India. He was also the 1st batsmen to score double century in ODI cricket.
Captaincy Record
One record, Sachin Tendulkar would love to have in his record book will be good captaincy record. Sachin Tendulkar led Indian team for 25 matches in which he only won 4 with below average percentage of 16%. But his records as batter was far best which overshadowed his performance as captain.
Who is 2nd God of Cricket?
Now, Sachin Tendulkar have made all the records to become the best batsmen of India and also in the world. Therefore, Indian fans gave him the title of God of Cricket. But now 2 players are in the list to get the title of God 2 of Cricket.
These 2 players are Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni. Both players have done excellent performances as cricket player for India. Virat Kohli followed the footsteps of Sachin Tendulkar to become the Modern Legend of batting and on the other hand, MS Dhoni conquered the field as captain of Indian cricket team.
Let’s get a brief view of both players and an analysis that which players have more chances get the title of God 2 of cricket according to cricket fans and experts.
MS Dhoni
Whenever the topic is about the best captains of India, MS Dhoni’s name will automatically pop up in the list. MS Dhoni has achieved immense success not as the captain of India but also as Wicket-keeper and finisher of Indian cricket team.
MS Dhoni’s Debut
MS Dhoni made his international debut for India in 2004 against Bangladesh. His debut series was bad dream for him as he only scored 19 runs in 3 matches with the average of only 9.5.
MS Dhoni as 1st choice WK for India
Despite bad start to his international career, Sourav Ganguly gave another chance to MS Dhoni which was against Pakistan in Pakistan. MS Dhoni played 6 matches of that series and scored 261 runs with the healthy average of 43.5. He became number 1 ODI batsmen in 2008 after scoring 1097 runs.
Wicketkeeping Record
MS Dhoni has played almost his entire career as wicketkeeper batsman. His wicketkeeping abilities are known all over the world. MS known for his excellent speed for stumping and mastermind as wicketkeeper.
As a wicketkeeper you have extra advantage to see the LBW decision behind the stump because sometimes you have to give advice to your captain or himself to get review on this decision or not. And MS Dhoni used this advantage very well.
MS Dhoni as Captain
ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 was a disaster was Indian cricket team. India lost against Bangladesh and also got eliminated from the Quarter-finals of that World Cup. The Indian team was in real struggle after that World Cup where, the captain of that World Cup for India, Rahul Dravid, and former Captain Sourav Ganguly got retired from international cricket after that World Cup. India wanted permanent Captain for Indian Cricket team. Then Golden period of Indian cricket started as MS Dhoni become the captain of Indian cricket team.
T20 World Cup 2007
ICC announced a World Cup for T20 cricket. The first edition of that World Cup was held in 2007 in South Africa. That was the first big challenge for MS Dhoni. MS Dhoni led India to their first T20 World Cup title after winning the final against Pakistan.
ICC Cricket World Cup 2011
After winning 2007 World Cup, MS Dhoni become number 1 choice captain for India. After 4 years in 2011, Biggest cricket tournament arrived and after Indian fan want to see India winning that tournament after 28 years. Another special thing about that World Cup was that this tournament was in India. MS Dhoni made the dream into reality after winning World Cup 2011 beating Sri Lanka in the final. MS Dhoni also played excellent inning in the final to take that win for India.
Champions Trophy 2013
Champions Trophy 2013 was also in the wish list of MS Dhoni. With young and unexperienced side that dream look very difficult. But India did the excellent job to win the Champions Trophy after beating the hot Favorite side of that tournament England. After winning Champions Trophy 2013, MS Dhoni became only captain to win 3 ICC Trophies as captain.
Dhoni’s Career as batsman
MS Dhoni also very famous for saving India from tough situation with the bat. Therefore, he scored 16000+ runs in international cricket for India. His cool and calm mind make him very excellent in reading the match situation. Therefore, opponent always felt pressure when MS Dhoni is on crease.
IPL Captaincy
Indian premier League which is very famous cricket league all over the world. MS Dhoni also very successful captain of IPL after winning 5 IPL trophies and excellent winning percentage. MS Dhoni is joint-most successful captain of IPL in term of winning.
As a captain MS Dhoni only failed 3 times 16 years to qualify for playoffs. MS Dhoni have reached his team Chennai Super Kings to the finals of IPL for 10 times which is more than any captains of IPL.
Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli has done wonders for Indian cricket team in his entire cricket. His fearless approach and chasing every big score make him very different from any other batter of Indian cricket team.
Virat Kohli’s Debut
Virat Kohli made his debut for Indian cricket team in 2008 against Sri Lanka. After making crucial contribution for team India, he become key pillar in top-order for India. Virat Kohli won 2 ICC Tournaments as Indian player. Virat Kohli was key player for India in 2011 Cricket World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy.
Virat Kohli’s runs for India
Virat Kohli has scored 25000+ for India in international cricket, making him one of the greatest active batsmen of the world. Virat’s golden period to score runs was 2011 to 2019. After 2019, Virat Kohli suffered bad patch as batsmen. Virat did not score even a single century from 2019 to 2022. But in Asia Cup 2022, Virat Kohli scored century against Afghanistan to break his trust for century.
T20 World Cup
Virat Kohli played unmatched knocks for India in T20 cricket which will be remember for ages. Virat Kohli played a brilliant knock of 82* runs against Pakistan in T20 World Cup 2022.
In 2016 T20 World Cup, Virat Kohli plays similar kind of knock to do or die match against Australia. Virat Kohli played brilliant knock of 82* runs to win that match for India.
T20 World Cup 2014 was also dream tournament for Virat Kohli as a batter. Virat Kohli scored 319 runs and also declared as player of the tournament for becoming highest run scorer of that World Cup.
Test Series win in Australia
Virat Kohli became first Asian captain to win test series against Australia on Australian soil. In 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India won that series by 2-1. Also Virat Kohli have managed to make India No 1 test side for more than 5 years which makes Virat Kohli an excellent captain for India in Test Cricket.
Virat Kohli as Indian White-ball Captain
Virat Kohli became full-time Indian cricket team captain in 2017 after the MS Dhoni leaving his spot of leading Indian cricket team. Virat Kohli did really well to make India top in every format of cricket. His win percentage as Indian cricket team captain was 63%.
But one down side was that Virat Kohli did not win any ICC Trophy for India as captain. India lost 2017 Champions Trophy final against Pakistan and 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup semi-final against New Zealand. In the 2021 T20 World Cup, India did not qualify for the semi-finals.
Virat in IPL
Virat Kohli has achieved bundle of success in IPL also. His records are unmatchable in IPL. Virat Kohli is the highest runs scorer of IPL. Virat has scored 8004 runs in IPL. Seems like Virat Kohli will reach the milestone of becoming first batsman to score 10K runs in IPL.
Virat Kohli is the only player in IPL history to play 18 seasons of IPL for 1 team which is Royal Challengers Bangaluru. Virat led Royal Challengers Bangaluru (RCB) in 8 seasons from 2013 to 2021.
In 2016, Virat Kohli reached RCB in the finals of IPL but unfortunately lost against Sunrisers Hyderabad. In 2021, Virat left the captaincy of RCB and Faf du Plessis became the new captain of RCB.
Virat Kohli has scored most runs in single edition of IPL which was 973 runs in IPL 2016. That records in still unbroke which showed the authority of Virat Kohli in IPL.
Who wins the race to get the title of 2nd God of Cricket?
Both players have achieved immense success for their country as cricket player. MS Dhoni have led India team to skies of Glory and on the other hands Virat Kohli win many crucial matches for India as Batter. Now we will analyze both players in term of leadership qualities and their prime skill as batter.
Batting
Both players have played on different positions in their career. Virat Kohli mainly played on number 3 and MS Dhoni played in lower-down order position. In term of batting Virat deserve more points as he scored more than 25000 runs and also scored
Captaincy
In Captaincy, MS Dhoni deserved more points as he won 3 Major ICC Trophies for India as captain. Although, Cricket is a team game, and every Indian player puts a lot of effort for India to winning these tournaments the mind of MS Dhoni as leader makes it easy to achieve this goal. Also, in IPL, MS Dhoni has achieved immense success in becoming the joint most successful captain in terms of winning IPL Trophies.
Virat Kohli will be remembered as one of the best test captains of the Indian cricket team. Winning against Australia on their home soil and defeating England in their backyard are also hard things to get as an Asian Captain. Therefore, Virat became first Asian captain to register test series victory in Australia.
