'Virat doesn't even come close to Sachin': Mohammad Asif claims that Babar, not Kohli, is a lot like Tendulkar

Former Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif feels that although Virat Kohli is a modern-great, his comparisons with the legendary Sachin Tendulkar are not valid. The Kohli vs Tendulkar debate has been going on since forever now and while opinions are divided over whether one is better than the other, Asif reckons that the current Indian captain is nowhere close to the man with 100 international centuries.

Asif, instead, feels that Pakistan captain Babar Azam is a lot like Tendulkar, explaining the reason behind his assessment.

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"Kohli is a bottom-hand player. He is doing well because of his fitness and it is supporting him. The moment he will face a decline, I don't think Kohli can make a comeback. In fact, Babar is an upper-hand player like Sachin. His bat movement is fluent like Sachin. People say Kohli is better than Tendulkar. I say no. Virat does not even come close to Sachin. This is my opinion," Asif said on CoverDriveCricket's YouTube channel.

Asif had his battles against Tendulkar, the most memorable being during India's tour of Pakistan in 2006. While Asif had Tendulkar's number in Tests, the former India batsman emerged on top in ODIs, scoring a century and a 95 in the first and third match respectively. Not that Asif isn't convinced of Kohli's abilities as the batsman, but he reckons there is a difference in playing styles of both greats.

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"The way Sachin played was all upper hand and a very few people know about this technique. Be it coaches or anyone player. Sachin was so fluent with his cover drives, on drives pulls and cuts. No doubt Kohli has strokes as well, but his is all bottom hand," said the former Pakistan pacers.

Kohli has 70 international centuries, 30 behind Tendulkar's 100. In ODIs, he is closing in on Tendulkar's list of centuries, having peeled off 43, and is only six behind his former India teammate. However in Tests, Kohli has scored 27 tons and got some catching up to do if he is to get to Tendulkar's record of 51 hundreds.