Rohit Sharma - Mr Talent on Indian Soil

Rohit Sharma started his career way back in 2007. He was part of the 2007 t-20 world cup winning team. Virat Kohli in 2007 was just an under 19 player and only in 2008, he captained India in U-19 world cup. Ajinkya Rahane had not even made his ranji trophy debut until 2007 (He made his Ranji Trophy debut for his first-class side Mumbai in the 2007/2008 season).

Today, both Kohli and Rahane are part of Indian test team and Rohit Sharma is the most talented batsman in making.

Rohit Sharma’s Test and ODI records seems to be good at one glance with both average around 40 as a batsman.

Test Matches

Out of the 9 matches he has played 2 has been in India. If those 2 are not considered then his batting average outside India is just 20 with a highest score of 72.

Outside India

9 is just a sample size. Let us consider his ODI records.  He has played 126 ODI matches with a batting average of 37.89 which is decent.

He has decent record against most of the countries except South Africa (Ignoring Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Ireland and Hong Kong). He averages 39.24

In India, he has scored 2 double centuries and therefore his records in India are amazing. He has scored 1443 runs in 28 matches at an average of 65.59

Outside India he has done well in West Indies & Zimbabwe with over 50 + averages along with 2 centuries in West Indies

Outside India he has scored 2309 runs at an average of 29.98. If West Indies and Zimbabwe are not considered this averages dip below 24

These numbers just indicate that Mr. Talent is awesome on Indian Pitches, but outside India he lacks the talent!

Batting average comparison with Suresh Raina & Yuvraj Singh

Virat Kohli - On a long way

Virat Kohli has had a great start to his career. In the 140 ODI matches that he has played, he has scored over 5700 runs at an average of 51.24. Especially while chasing a target he’s been exceptional and consistent. But his test statistics doesn’t seem to project the same level of greatness as his ODI records.

In the 29 test matches (before India vs Australia series 2014) he has played so far he has scored 1855 runs at an average of 39.46. This really looks bad when compared to his ODI average of 51.24. How does it look when it is compared with the greats after playing 29 test matches?

As of today (12th Dec, 2014) the following are top six players based on runs scored over their career

Based on the number of runs scored in first 29 matches, Virat Kohli is better than Kallis & Ponting. He has scored more centuries than them and also more than Dravid, Sangakkara, & Lara. But Virat fails miserably in the average sections

India batsmen are generally compared on how they fare outside India. Kohli has played 31 innings outside India, and when comparing that with first 31 innings of other great India players, he is some way below the rest.

Kohli’s has scored century on his captaincy debut and in good hope he should be able to keep his records along or above the rest of the greats.