Inside Edge

Manav Suthar might be the toast of the town currently, former Sri Lanka batter Russel Arnold was quick to provide a reality check, saying the spinner is indeed very talented but would be required to prove himself across various conditions before being labelled a “special” spinner.

“Well, he was good. It's just two Test matches. One against Afghanistan in India and one here. So, to say the word special amongst the others, I am not too sure he's there yet. Because he will have to show himself in different conditions. These are, at the end of the day, helpful conditions. But everything is to like. That's what it's about,” Arnold said while replying to a Hindustan Times Digital query during a select media interaction organised by the Sony Sports Network.

Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar is wondering how the IPL generation of the country has been able adapt to Test cricket. He compared the transition to pop singers attempting to perform classical ragas. The ex-player, who is now a commentator and an expert is clearly puzzled but no doubt happy.

"Modern pop singers, if they are asked to do classical singing, ragas, then it will be very difficult. But these people are doing that. It is a mystery to me that the generation of IPL, the generation of T20, how do they play such good Test cricket? In both game of ball and game of gain," Manjerakar said while speaking on The Great Indian Cricket Show on Doordarshan.

India's spin bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule backs Kuldeep despite Yadav's recent performance challenges.

He said: "He's been bowling extremely well. It's just the situation which arose in Galle, he had to play a different role. For me, he has always been a match-winner and he definitely is in the scheme of things," Bahutule told the media at the Sinhalese Sports Club.

Defending the struggling Kuldeep Yadav, India's spin bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule on Friday asserted that the left-arm wrist spinner is in the team management's "scheme of things" ahead of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo, and said one mediocre outing will not define the bowler.

Kuldeep could only pick one wicket while bowling 25 overs across two innings in the first Test, whereas left-arm spinner Manav Suthar and Ravindra Jadeja shared 14 wickets among them.

"He's been bowling extremely well. It's just the situation which arose in Galle, he had to play a different role. For me, he has always been a match-winner and he definitely is in the scheme of things," Bahutule told the media at the Sinhalese Sports Club.

We had to see how the trajectory or the speeds work in every session. As the days went by and as there was a demand for different types of speeds and different types of trajectories, he definitely was making an effort to bowl that.

"I think he was playing his role. So, he was operating as a wrist spinner in a way where obviously the wicket got slower and slower each day. But I'm sure he was bowling the way he normally bowls," he said.

Looking ahead to the second and final Test, former cricketer kris Srikkanth said India will win the series easily as srilanka are a poor test side.

"India will win the second Test also easily as Sri Lanka are a poor Test side. Sri Lanka may be good in ODIs, but in Tests, they will surely lose the second match as well. The toss is crucial, but even if Sri Lanka win the toss and bat first, how will they score 350?"

India have dominated Sri Lanka in the Test format, winning their last four bilateral series and winning eight of the last 11 matches with a solitary defeat. The second Test will be played in Colombo, starting Sunday, August 23.

Sri Lanka Cricket

Fast bowler Mark Wood said he looks back on his performance in England's dismal Ashes campaign in Australia with ‘shame,' adding that the tourists should have won the opening Test in Perth before their tour unravelled both on and off the field. Wood was battling a knee injury before the series and played in the opening match but was subsequently ruled out of the remainder of the tour due to the same issue and has not featured in competitive cricket since then. In Perth, England lost nine wickets for 99 runs before Travis Head smashed a blistering 123 to chase down 205.

He said : "I look back on it shamefully. We should have won that first game. The whole tour was different if we won in Perth. Australia were there for the taking. Then the game just seemed to be in fast-forward, which is why I feel shame, because the game was finished".

England Cricket

Former cricketer said that India captain Shubman Gill does not prefer Kuldeep in the playing XI and insisted that it is not the spinner's fault.

"And when KL. Rahul came out after lunch today, he started with Kuldeep Yadav. Shubman was out of the field. So, there are 2-3 things in this. Maybe he is not the preferred priority for Shubman Gill as a captain. He is not a preferred priority for him. It is a very, very difficult situation Kuldeep is finding himself in. I have all the sympathies. Did he lose his skill? That didn't happen. He is playing a game after sitting outside for a long time and didn't use him properly in that game as well. It is not the player's fault. I still think Kuldeep Yadav has the skill. He has to use it properly. And I don't see any reason to continue him further and back him as well," Ashwin stated.

Ashwin explained that Kuldeep's current situation in the team reflects a lack of trust from the management and argued that the spinner deserves greater backing.

"Look, this is a sign that there is no trust. The fact that he is not being backed. That is the thing. Is this a sign that the next game Saransh (Jain) can be brought to the team? We don't know that. But I think if you want to bring the third spinner, I think it has to be continued with Kuldeep Yadav," he explained.

Former Indian cricket team fast bowler Dodda Ganesh mocked South Africa great AB de Villiers for his recent comments on Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar. De Villiers said that in his opinion, Kohli was better than Tendulkar when it came to seam-friendly overseas conditions. The former South Africa batter went on to suggest that Tendulkar was a pioneer for subcontinent batters but Kohli surpassed him. "I think of someone like Sachin Tendulkar way back, who started that trend for India. Yet, he wasn't as strong as someone like Virat Kohli, who was even better. But Sachin was the first guy to show that as a subcontinent batter, you can do well in bouncy and seaming conditions. Virat took that forward and raised the bar," he said.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, the former South Africa captain reflected on how Indian batters have evolved in overseas conditions, crediting Tendulkar for breaking the barrier before suggesting that Kohli took that standard even further.

“I think of someone like Sachin Tendulkar way back, who started that trend for India. Yet, he wasn’t as strong as someone like Virat Kohli, who was even better. But Sachin was the first guy to show that as a subcontinent batter, you can do well in bouncy and seaming conditions. Virat took that forward and raised the bar,” said de Villiers on his YouTube channel.

The comparison is bound to divide opinions, especially when the numbers are brought into the picture. Tendulkar finished his Test career with 15,921 runs and 51 centuries, while Kohli signed off with 9,230 runs and 30 hundreds. Away from home, Tendulkar’s record was particularly remarkable, with 8,705 runs at an average above 54 and 29 centuries. Kohli, meanwhile, scored more than 4,000 away runs with 16 hundreds.

Tendulkar Built The Road, Kohli Changed The Mindset
The raw numbers may favour Tendulkar, but de Villiers’ point appears to be about influence as much as statistics. Tendulkar showed that an Indian batter could conquer Australia, England and South Africa.

Kohli arrived in a different era and became the face of an Indian team that no longer travelled abroad merely hoping to compete. His seven Test centuries in Australia, for instance, underline his success in one of cricket’s toughest environments.

That difference perhaps explains why the Tendulkar-versus-Kohli debate refuses to have a straightforward answer. One set the benchmark; the other pushed an already confident Indian side to believe that winning overseas could be an expectation rather than an exception.

◾Virat Kohli certainly qualifies as the finest white-ball batter of all time, but when it comes to Test cricket, Sachin Tendulkar is undoubtedly India’s greatest. To suggest otherwise is a rather outrageous take, especially given how Kohli struggled in Tests during the last five years of his career. A growing drought of centuries, a dipping average, and a familiar pattern of dismissals tarnished Kohli’s legacy, which, until 2020, had been on an untouchable trajectory. It’s understandable why AB de Villiers feels the way he does, calling Kohli the stronger overseas Test batter. But at the end of the day, as great as Kohli was, Tendulkar was simply better, and by some distance.

◾AB De Villiers and Kohli share a wonderful bond. That explains the remark. Then again, Tendulkar's record alone proves de Villiers wrong. With 8,705 runs from 106 Tests at an average of 54.7, including 29 centuries, Sachin is India’s most prolific overseas Test batter. Kohli, with 4,894 runs from 68 Tests, trails him by nearly 4,000 runs despite playing almost 40 fewer games. Kohli enjoyed a period of dominance between 2014 and 2019, but Tendulkar was consistently exceptional, especially in the SENA nations, throughout much of his 24-year, storied career.

Tendulkar miles ahead of Kohli
The similarities are there. Tendulkar and Kohli each scored a century on their maiden tours of Australia. But the impact of those innings was poles apart. Tendulkar’s 148 in Sydney and 114 at Perth are considered two of the most impactful innings even today, 35 years later, whereas Kohli’s 116 in Adelaide in 2011 was a saving grace in an otherwise 4-0 whitewash, as he finished the series as India’s lone century-maker. Against England, Tendulkar smashed a match-saving hundred at Old Trafford in Manchester, whereas Kohli’s struggles were evident. With 134 runs from 10 innings, Kohli often refers to the 2014 tour as the most nightmarish series of his career.

In every nation except the West Indies, Tendulkar boasts a superior Test record to Kohli’s. That he’s played a lot longer is a key factor, but the trivia which often escapes the mind is Tendulkar’s second coming. At 36, Tendulkar’s career witnessed a renaissance, with the Master Blaster scoring 2951 runs, eight centuries, 14 fifties from 29 Tests in the last four years of his career. On the contrary, between 2020 and 2025, Kohli managed 1,912 runs in 36 Tests. Do the math.

💢Kohli’s legacy untouched, but Tendulkar in a league of his own

Kohli has obviously touched several Test highs that Tendulkar didn’t: four centuries in a single series Down Under in the 2014/15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, winning a Test series as captain in Australia, two blockbuster years in Test cricket – 1,215 runs in 2016 and another 1,322 in 2018, and twice scored 650-plus runs in a single series.

💢 But Tendulkar’s aura adds so much more. The fact that some of Tendulkar’s Test innings have become immortal is another point in his favour. The 136 in Chennai. The unbeaten 241 at the SCG after he had struggled through the entire series. And who can forget 2010?

At 37, Tendulkar bludgeoned 1,500-plus runs in 14 Tests, including seven centuries, capping off his best season in the format in the 21st year of his India career.

Consider this. In 2010 alone, he scored 213 runs from two Tests against South Africa, 390 from three Tests in Sri Lanka and 403 from two Tests against Australia. Then, once 2011 kicked in, Tendulkar picked up exactly where he had left off, smashing 326 runs in three Tests in South Africa, where he also completed his 50th and 51st Test centuries. Meanwhile, Kohli is a retired Test cricketer at the same age. That settles the debate.

Kohli’s Test legacy is defined as much by his captaincy as his batting. Kohli at his peak was a thing to marvel at, a treat for sore eyes and a sight to behold. He erased doubts in 2018, hammering three centuries en route to plundering 697 runs against England, winning plaudits from the opposition, with former Australia coach Justin Langer calling him the greatest he had ever seen. He also scored four double centuries in a calendar year and won the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year award in 2018. These are achievements that cement his place among the giants of Indian batting. In ODIs and T20Is, there’s no comparison. Kohli is the greatest. But the one format where de Villiers shouldn’t have placed Kohli above Tendulkar is Tests, where Sachin’s record remains an Indian benchmark promising to stand the test of time.