Virat Kohli smashed his 51st ODI century during the Champions Trophy match against Pakistan. Former England captain Nasser Hussain referred to Kohli as the best batsman of all time in the 50-over format after his century, even surpassing the legendary Sachin Tendulkar. In an interview with Mike Atherton on Sky Sports on the greatest batters in ODI history, Nasser stated that, because of his unwavering consistency in the format, Kohli would rank higher than players like AB de Villiers, Sachin Tendulkar, and Kumar Sangakkara.
England legends hail Kohli
After Sachin and Sangakkara, Kohli is just the third batter in ODI cricket history to surpass the 14,000-run milestone. It should be noted that Kohli outpaced the other two batters by a significant margin to achieve the 14k run mark. In his discussion of the Indian superstar, Mike Atherton noted that when it came to chasing in the ODI match, no one was better than Kohli. The former England batter cited Kohli's performance in the game and stated that although he is a brilliant player in all formats, he may be at his best in the 50-over format.
"Virat Kohli in a run-chase in 50-over cricket, there’s been nobody better in the history of the game, really. 51 centuries is an unbelievable number. I mean, he’s got 51 and he passed 14,000 runs, which only Tendulkar and Sangakkara have got past that mark in one-day cricket,” said Michael Atherton on the Sky Sports Podcast
"And he got them in 60-odd innings quicker than Sachin, and I think about 90-odd innings quicker than Kumar. So, I mean, ODI is probably his best. You know, he’s been a great all-format player, clearly, but you’d probably say that ODI is his absolute best format," he added.
In agreement with Atherton's judgment, former England captain Nasser Hussain ranked Kohli higher than Sachin and Sangakkara.
"He’s been an incredible player. Yeah, and you’d have to say probably the best player in ODIs of all time, really, with those stats you mentioned. You’d have Tendulkar in the same conversation. Kumar, you’d have AB de Villiers. They’ve been some great ones, but he’s right at the top of the tree," said Hussain.