Virat Kohli is the man!

[f.b.m]

What exactly has he done in Oz? As I remember he has score no centuries not even any ninties in Oz. He has got out a number of times to fairly unimpressive bowling. I think you are confusing his performance in NZ against a fairly mediocre attack with his performance against Oz. All I'm saying is the obvious; that had any of the Paki team got decent score no-one would have noted Umar's innings. However as the rest of the team aren't good enough to play Test cricket, his scores of 40 make him look like Bradman. Oh and comparing him to Sachin? Sachin score two centuries against a much attack on worse pitches. The plain fact is Umar could not get into the current Indian line. Indeed we have many players who are much better than him who can't even get into the side. Virat not only has but as shone. :two_thumbs_up:

Akmal has scored 4 fifties and a hundred in Australia and New Zealand and more importantly has looked the part as a test batsman. Unimpressive bowling? I must be on different planet if Bond, Johnson, Bollinger were 'unimpressive' bowlers. I'm guessing Suranga Lakmal, Rubel Hossain and Suraj Randiv must be the bowling demons in this little universe of yours? And no I never compared anyone to Sachin. Oh and most sane people would take in Akmal for Yuvraj in the test side on current form. Just to let you know.. Thats to take nothing from Kohli though. Loads of talent with a good temperament, etc. If I were to pick on his technique though, he could be a big lbw candidate in seaming conditions. He has to be given a chance in tough conditions to be proven either way though. I'm out of this India-Paki comparisons just for the sake of them...

[vvvslaxman]

yup too ealry to compare them. We will know in about few years who stands who goes out. Barath was very impressive at Brisbane Gabba. Lot of youngsters are coming up. Gotta wait.

[I_India]

VK seems to have good temperament.

[Block hole]

I think the biggest advantage Kohli has got , is that he got the better batsman in his team to help him about his bating . And that's what Umar Akmal has lacking , which is not his fault.

[Ram]

At least as far as ODIs are concerned, Virat is a near-perfect combination of temperament, aggression and skill. It is very rare that a player is gifted with all the three at the same time. There's the half-wit like Afridi, whol has aggression and nothing else and that generally ensures he scores in binary, while the rest of the world operates in the decimal system. Then, there's the Yusuf Pathan, who has the skill and aggression, but no temperament whatsoever. So, he ends up doing only slightly better than his cross-border cousin. But Virat's the whole deal. If anything, he suffered from the odd impulsive lapse where he'd try to go over the top, but in the last two big innings he has played, we have not seen that happen. Seems like he has disciplined himself mentally just enough to avoid them. I think, Virat has the potential to become one of the leading ODI batsmen of the world, which makes him a default inclusion in the ODI squads of the future.

[spectre]

Kohli has already proved at lower levels he is very good while chasing. Perfect foil for Dhoni and Yuvi. If only we have a strong hitter down the order complement these three that would be perfect.

Raina :two_thumbs_up: although, i would like him to bat at the top

[vvvslaxman]

I think the biggest advantage Kohli has got ' date=' is that he got the better batsman in his team to help him about his bating . And that's what Umar Akmal has lacking , which is not his fault.[/quote'] Not true. He was doing well in other formats also. He was the highest run getter in domestic list A matches. He did well against touring Aussie team also http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/184/184753.html

[vvvslaxman]

Raina :two_thumbs_up: although, i would like him to bat at the top

No Raina is not enough. We need one more. Raina could have his off day.

[saneindian]

Kohli and Raina , by becoming consistent off late have nearly put an end to all the talk of going back to Dravid for the ODI team. Kudos to the young men!

[EnterTheVoid]

Nineteen years old, thrown into the lions den, Umar's batting was admirable, batted with more intent, courage and purpose than of those gutless chokers put together I am backing Umar over Virat, and hope to see him evolve into something meaninful. I will be supporting him along with Amer during Pak's defense of their world cup in West Indies

[dr_tooley]

Akmal has scored 4 fifties and a hundred in Australia and New Zealand and more importantly has looked the part as a test batsman. Unimpressive bowling? I must be on different planet if Bond, Johnson, Bollinger were 'unimpressive' bowlers. I'm guessing Suranga Lakmal, Rubel Hossain and Suraj Randiv must be the bowling demons in this little universe of yours? And no I never compared anyone to Sachin. Oh and most sane people would take in Akmal for Yuvraj in the test side on current form. Just to let you know.. Thats to take nothing from Kohli though. Loads of talent with a good temperament, etc. If I were to pick on his technique though, he could be a big lbw candidate in seaming conditions. He has to be given a chance in tough conditions to be proven either way though. I'm out of this India-Paki comparisons just for the sake of them...

Of his 50s only one has been against Australia. The NZ attack, including Bond, is very very average and it is hard to argue that it is any harder to play against that that of SL. Although the Oz attack is better, certainly on the pace side, when his innings has really mattered, 2nd innings of both test Umar has failled. This constrasts with Virat who has shone in the two pressure situations. You would take Umar over Yuvraj? A non-proven non-match-winner over a proven match winner? With that sort of approach you should be a Paki selector. Its the same logic that choses Faisal Iqbal (1x100 average of 26) over Younis Khan (16x100 average of 50). No wonder you didn't win the second Test! :yay:

[DomainK]

Umar Akmal is a good batsman. Stop soiling every thread.

[urbestfriend]

Akmal and Kohli both are good batsmen. I think we should wait for an year or two before giving our verdict who is better among them.

[Aaku]

Rohit ? :omg: He's a fab batsmen! Wait and watch.. Waaaiiiittt aaannnndddd waaattttcccchhhh ! :headshake:

[King Tendulkar]

Bring this thread up when Kohli scores in overseas tests.

Why do runs in subcontinent not count. Pathetic mentality. Next time some gora scores runs in Aus or SA we should type vice versa

[youngindia]

over the top and premature comments here. the problems with our young players is when they go outside subcontinent or face stronger attacks. also there is something called "sophomore slump"(see hughes,rohit, ishant ansd mendis) which may come next season or sooner. he has not crossed 40 vs a stronger attack. so hold your horses. he has a long way to go

[Show_stopper]

over the top and premature comments here. the problems with our young players is when they go outside subcontinent or face stronger attacks. also there is something called "sophomore slump"(see hughes,rohit, ishant ansd mendis) which may come next season or sooner. he has not crossed 40 vs a stronger attack. so hold your horses. he has a long way to go

Point to be noted people..stop going OTT at every other decent performance. We really can't take performances against Syed Rasel and co. seriously.

[vvvslaxman]

Oh the title changed huh :hysterical::hysterical::hysterical: Incredible title

[Green_Machine]

hmmm I reckon Indian's are getting worried about the prospect of Umar being the real deal...Umar is 19, Kohli 21...both still learning...

[Show_stopper]

err..no Umar is 21 himself. He admitted as much. Sure it age doesn't matter now..but it will tell when they cross 30.. people will wonder why his reflexes have slowed when he is still 31-32.