Just ask yourself, who is the only current batsman who is averaging more than 50 in all formats of the game? Next one. Who is the only current batsman who has scored more than 10,000 runs in ODIs? Who held a record 43 weeks as the number one batsman in the world in the ODIs? Now, who among the current batsman holds the record for the most number of hundreds? The answer to all these questions is Virat Kohli. He is in an exalted position that comparing him with mere mortals is sacrilegious. Such has been the hysteria over the last couple of days after Babar Azam managed to overtake Kohli and become the number one batsman. Let me comment about Indian players contracts and Babar Azam overtaking Kohli
Let me first comment on the new contracts for the Indian players
It is not really clear who was the criteria used to categorise every player into A+, A, B & C. Just a cursory glance at the players who are in various categories will reveal the fact that not much thought has been applied. There are only 3 players in the A+ range. Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma & Jasprit Bumrah. I really wonder whether international cricket is the only qualifier when the players were chosen for various levels. If that was the case, except for Kohli, the others do not merit an A+ contract.
Bumrah
Especially Bumrah who has hardly played a handful of games. Yes, he has talent and he has good average and excellent economy rates in the limited overs but is he that talented to warrant an A+ contract? Remember, all grade A+ players will earn 7CR every year. In the recent series in Australia, Bumrah hardly played a role in the series win. He didn’t play a significant role in the Champions Trophy loss and the 2019 World Cup loss. Infact, because of his no-ball India lost the Champions Trophy finals.
Most of his wickets have come on helpful foreign conditions and even there, except in the West Indies, Bumrah has never really managed to run through the opposition. I am not begrudging his earning but all I am saying is that the board must have waited for few more years before elevating anyone. Going by the same yardstick, even Saini or Prasidh Krishna are talented. Will they be given A+ contracts after a few games?
Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma, who is not even a regular in tests until recently, is also in the same bracket. Yes, he has played a lot of games and he has been playing at the international level for more than 10 years. Hasn’t he been that consistent? Records will suggest No. If he had been, he would have been the captain in all the forms before Kohli.
Grade A is even more appalling. Rahane who does not deserve a place in the squad is in grade A and so is Ashwin. Pant who has already played a couple of match winnings knocks and that too in Australia, is in grade A. If Bumrah is deemed as grade A+, Pant too deserves to be in A+. Ashwin who has won more games for the team than anyone else, though in favourable conditions, is in grade A when he must be in A+.
What mistake did Kuldeep Yadav did to be downgraded to C is not clear? He wasn’t given sufficient number of chances even when there weren’t anyone around. Also, why stop at just 27 players? If BCCI wants to preserve their best players for a longtime, shouldn’t the contract be extended to upto 50 players? That would have given a bigger pool to choose from. All in all, it looks like this system has just been copied from another country without sufficient thought.
Babar Azam overtakes Kohli
Yes Babar Azam has overtaken Kohli in ODI rankings but is that really a big deal? Almost every cricket related website has this at the top of their site. Someone replacing some other player in part of the game. This is not even worthy of a mention leave alone as the top news. Babar has age on his side. He needs to travel a long way to even match Kohli in terms of performance. Kohli and Babar may have had the same figures at the same stage of their career but Kohli even at the stage had proved himself in every country. Especially in Australia where he has scored bucketful of runs. Such has been Kohli’s mastery over his game. A closer look at Babar’s statistics reveals even much damaging details. He has hardly done anything in Australia, South Africa and surprisingly, even in West Indies.
Until then, any comparison with Kohli will always be one-sided.
About Kohli‘s batting