'Kohli still has weaknesses, was a flop in England': IND great's bombastic comparison remark on Gill with Virat, Sachin

The India great likened Gill to Sachin while taking down Kohli with bombastic reminder to that 2014 England tour.

The advent of rising star Shubman Gill has added a new chapter to the already existing, or rather, long-standing debate on who is the better batter between Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar. It has been the year of Gill where he has already smashed five international centuries, including a maiden ton in T20Is and a record double hundred in ODIs, and that was followed by four tons in the recently-concluded IPL 2023 season. And as world cricket join the freshly brewing debate pertaining to Gill, an India great likened Gill to Sachin while taking down Kohli with bombastic reminder to that 2014 England tour.

Virat Kohli; Shubman Gill; Sachin Tendulkar

When Gill was in his century spree for India across formats at the start of the year, the claim that as made by most was that Kohli's heir-apparent has arrived. But following his exploits in IPL 2023 where he had come close to shattering Kohli's iconic 2016 tally with his 890 runs in 17 innings that fetched him the Orange Cap, the Sachin comparison popped up as well.

Speaking to Sportskeeda, Mohammad Kaif opined that Gill's batting is more similar to, or rather as flawless as that of Sachin, than of Kohli, who still has "weaknesses". Explaining the second point, the veteran India cricketer pointed towards Kohli's troubling 2014 series in England.

“Sachin was also a very organized batter. If I compare Sachin and Virat, the latter still has some weaknesses. He was out of form when he went to England (in 2014). James Anderson troubled him a lot outside the off stump and he had not answers to it. He was a total flop in that series," said Kaif.

“I feel Gill’s technique is similar to Tendulkar. It is very difficult to get him out at this point of time. There seems to be no weakness in his game. Virat and Sachin both are legends. I have played with both, but Kohli has his weaknesses," he said.

“Gill is on the path of becoming a great like Sachin when it comes to technique and mental strength,” Kaif added.

The 23-year-old is presently in London gearing up for the biggest match of his career so far since the U19 World Cup final. He heads to the WTC final against Australia on the back of centuries in Border-Gavaskar series in March and his maiden ton in the format in November in Bangladesh.