Not Sachin Tendulkar. Not Virat Kohli. Former Pakistan fast bowler Junaid Khan considers Rohit Sharma as India's greatest batter ever to grace the cricket field. The 33-year-old speedster finds India captain Rohit the best he has seen among Men In Blue because of the wide variety of shots he possesses. (Cricket News)
Asked who he would pick as the greatest India batter ever - Virat Kohli or Sachin Tendulkar - on the Nadir Ali Podcast, Junaid picked the 36-year-old Rohit instead. "I am going to say Rohit Sharma. He has all kinds of shots in his arsenal. That's why everybody calls Rohit 'The Hitman'. He has scored an incredible 264, and has three double-hundreds to his name in ODIs. This is rare and a big achievement," Junaid said.
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The ex-Men In Green seamer went on to add that Sachin would have scored far more tons, had he batted in the current era. "Virat is a great player. But the way Sachin batted in a different era, he would have scored more than 100 centuries in today's time," Junaid opined.
Junaid, who has played 22 Test, 76 ODIs and nine T20Is for Pakistan, also spoke about his rivalry with Virat. “We have played in the U-19 World Cup, we knew each other. It was my comeback series and I was playing against India for the first time. I got Kohli in the first match and he told me it will not happen again. I got him again in the second and third match," he said.
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The pacer added, "Before the third ODI at the breakfast table, I told him ‘Viru aaj aapki khair nahi hai (Virat you will not be spared today).’ Younis Khan was also there. He said get him out again today. Younis bhai took Virat’s catch.”
