Virat Kohli A Champion Player But Sachin Tendulkar Will Always Remain No.1: Harbhajan Singh

Star Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh on Tuesday dealt with the difficult task of comparing Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli rather skillfully. Speaking to NDTV, the off-spinner termed the Indian cricket captain as a champion player but went on to add that the Master Blaster would always remain number one. Kohli's consistently brilliant performances in recent years have led to him being compared with Tendulkar, who is often regarded as the gold standard of batting. While Kohli is wolfing down Tendulkar's ODI records, it is Test cricket where the Delhi batsman will find it hard to master the legendary batsman.

"Virat Kohli is champion player but Sachin Tendulkar will always remain number one. I hope Virat breaks all batting records, but Sachin will remain Sachin. Most people in this country, including Virat and me, started playing cricket because of Sachin. If you ask Virat, he too will say the same. Paaji is Paaji," Harbhajan said.

The 36-year-old also lauded Kohli for his supreme batting form.

"Virat's passion has taken him to the next level. He wants to be the guy who takes the team home. Virat is not only fit himself, but motivates others to be fit," Bhajji added, while speaking at SporTale, India's first sports lit fest, in Pune.

Tendulkar always did well against Australian and Kohli will want emulate his idol as India take on Australia in a four-match Test series. The hosts will go into the contest as clear favorites.

Indian confidence is largely founded on Kohli's form. He has hit four double-centuries since July.

Kohli's recent form has also drawn comparisons with Don Bradman, who averaged 99.94 in Tests, but never played in India.