Comparisons and cricket go hand in hand. Barely three weeks ago, people were busy comparing Babar Azam and Virat Kohli. Azam became the world’s best ODI batsman in the ICC Rankings, ending Kohli’s 41-month reign. Closer home, comparisons between Rohit Sharma and Kohli crop up in most cricket TV and online shows, although the captaincy angle is considered more than their acumen with the bat. Even Prithvi Shaw has not been spared. During West Indies’ tour to India in 2018, Shaw was vehemently compared to Sachin Tendulkar, thanks to his stature and the Mumbai connection.

But the one between Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar is the mother of all comparisons, which keeps returning to the mainstream narrative over and over again.

This time around, the person to bring this debate back to life is former Team India bowler Venkatesh Prasad. On the Grade Cricketer Podcast, Prasad said, “They are both brilliant individuals honestly speaking. On one side, Sachin was very soft, and of course, Virat comes out aggressive, but it’s not his nature. It’s just on the field because he wants to win and perform in every single game.”

While Kohli’s emotions are there for everyone to see, Tendulkar’s on-field reactions were limited. Prasad said, “He wanted to do well in every single game. You don’t really see many emotions from Sachin. We never say any, whether he scored a hundred or got out for a duck… whatever. Even when he gets hit, we don’t see much emotion, whereas Virat is someone who likes to express himself.”

Comparing cricketers is not a modern practice. This exercise is as old as the sport itself.

In his early cricketing years, Donald Bradman was compared to fellow Australian batsman Archie Jackson, who, back in 1929, scored a century on his Test debut against England at the age of 19. Jackson died at the age of 23. In the early 1900’s, Colonel CK Nayadu rose through the ranks to become India's first cricketer with an international pedigree, and was eventually called the Bradman of India.