Indian cricket fans always want an in-depth comparison between Virat Kohli vs Rohit Sharma.
So, we have decided to bring a detailed comparison of the two players (Virat Kohli vs Rohit Sharma) for you. Hope you enjoy it and it helps you to decide on your own about which player is the best out of the two. Do let us know your feedback in the comments section.
Virat Kohli Vs Rohit Sharma: A General Overview:
| Virat Kohli | Rohit Sharma | |
| Date of Birth | 5th November 1988 | 30th April 1987 |
| Age | 32 | 33 |
| Place of Birth | New Delhi, India | Nagpur, Maharashtra |
| Nickname | Chikoo | Ro, Hitman, Shaana |
| Wife | Anushka Sharma | Ritika Sajdeh |
| Siblings | Vikas (Brother) and Bhavna (Sister) | Vishal (Brother) |
| Representing India Since | 2008 | 2007 |
| Batting | Right-Handed Batsman | Right-Handed Batsman |
| Jersey Number | 18 | 45 |
Both of these great cricketers are right-handed batsmen and have played a huge role in team India’s wins in recent years. Both of them hail from a humble background. While Kohli’s father was a criminal lawyer, Rohit’s father used to work as a caretaker of a warehouse. In fact, Rohit’s father’s financial condition was so bad that he was raised by his other family members.
Cricketers like them serve as an inspiration to those who lack access to facilities and resources. Always remember that only hard work and perseverance pays out in the end. Both of these great batsmen are successful because of how hard they worked.
Now we will discuss in detail their stats and other details.
Virat Kohli vs Rohit Sharma (A Comparison of Awards)
| Virat Kohli | Rohit Sharma | |
| Awards | · CNN Indian of the year 2017
· People’s Choice Award (Favorite Indian Sportsman) 2012 · A stand in the New Delhi’s Arun Jaitley International is named as “Virat Kohli Stand” · International Player of the Year (By Barmy Army) (two times, 2017 and 2018) · CEAT Tires Global Cricketer of The Year (3 times, 2011-2012, 2013-2014 and 2018-2019) · Wisden Global Leading Cricketer (3 times, 2016,2017, and 2018) · P. Umrigar Award for global cricketer of the particular year (5 times, 2011-2012, 2014-2015, 2015-2016, 2016-2017 and 2017-2018) · ICC (International Cricket Council) T20 International Team of the passing decade · ICC (International Cricket Council) ODI (One Day International) team of the passing decade · ICC (International Cricket Council) Test Team of the passing decade (Captain of the same team as well) · Spirit of the cricket award by the ICC in the year 2019 · Test Team of The Year (Captain as well, 3 times, 2017, 2018, and 2019) · One Day International Team of The Year (2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019) · Test Cricket Player of the Year (ICC) 2018 · ODI Cricket Player of the Year (Three times, 2012, 2017, and 2018) · Overall ICC Cricketer of the particular year (Sir G. Sobers Trophy) 2 times (2017, 2018) · Cricketer of the passing Decade (Sir G. Sobers Trophy again) · The most prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 2018 · Padma Shri 2017 · Arjuna Award 2013
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· Sportsperson of the Year (By GQ in 2015)
· Team of The Year ICC (5 times, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019) · One Day International Player of the Year in the year 2019 · Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in the year 2020 · Arjuna Award 2015 |
The long list of awards which King Kohli is proof that he is well acknowledged in the cricketing circles and is far better than Rohit Sharma when it comes to awards received. Rohit has to work really hard to reach the level of Virat Kohli.
Hopefully, this will happen and we will have another star cricketer besides Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni.
Virat Kohli vs Rohit Sharma Stats (International Cricket Stats)
Debut Stats:
| Virat Kohli | Rohit Sharma | |
| Test Debut | Vs West Indies (20th June 2011) | Vs West Indies (6th November 2013) |
| ODI Debut | Vs Sri Lanka (18th August 2008) | Vs Ireland (23rd June 2007) |
| T20 Debut | Vs Zimbabwe (12th June 2010) | Vs England (19th September 2007) |
As you might have probably noticed, Rohit Sharma became part of the Indian cricket team earlier than Virat Kohli. The difference between when they joined the Indian cricket team is not much (almost one year). One thing which strikes out is how Rohit debuted in the international test cricket much much later than what fans might have thought.
Virat Kohli Vs Rohit Sharma Test Cricket Stats
| Virat Kohli | Rohit Sharma | |
| Number of Test Matches Played Till Date | 87 | 32 |
| Runs Scored in Test Matches | 7314 | 2141 |
| Batting Average in Test Matches | 53.42 | 46.54 |
| Number of Centuries Scored in Test Cricket | 27 | 6 |
| Number of Half-Centuries Scored in Test Cricket | 22 | 10 |
| Personal Best Score in Test Cricket | 254 | 212 |
| ICC (International Cricket Council) Ranking | 2 | 15 |
As you can notice, Virat Kohli has played far more matches than Rohit Sharma and has also scored far more runs in his international test cricket career. Virat also has a better overall average and has also scored a greater number of centuries and half-centuries.
This has also gotten reflected in the ICC’s test cricket ranking for batsmen in which Virat has been ranked as 2nd while Rohit is lagging far behind at 15th. Hopefully, Rohit will improve his game and try to beat Virat in the ICC test cricket batsmen’s rankings.
Virat Kohli vs Rohit Sharma ODI (One Day International) Cricket Stats
| Virat Kohli | Rohit Sharma | |
| Number of ODI matches played Till Date | 251 | 224 |
| Runs Scored in ODI cricket Till Date | 12040 | 9115 |
| Batting Average in ODI cricket | 59.31 | 49.27 |
| Number of centuries scored in ODI cricket | 43 | 29 |
| Number of half-centuries scored in ODI cricket | 60 | 43 |
| Best Score in ODI cricket till date | 183 | 264 |
| ICC ODI ranking for batsmen | 1 | 2 |
As you can see, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have played almost a similar number of matches. But we can also notice that Virat dominates Rohit in almost every criterion. Be it the number of runs scored, overall average, number of centuries and half-centuries. Rohit only manages to beat Virat in the highest score category because once he managed to play an excellent inning of 264 runs.
Virat Kohli vs Rohit Sharma T20 International Cricket Stats
| Virat Kohli | Rohit Sharma | |
| Number of T20 international matches played | 85 | 108 |
| Number of runs scored in T20 international cricket | 2928 | 2773 |
| Batting average in T20 international cricket | 50.48 | 32.6 |
| Number of centuries scored in T20 international cricket | 0 | 4 |
| Number of half-centuries scored in T20 international cricket | 25 | 21 |
| Best score in T20 international cricket | 94 | 118 |
| ICC batsmen ranking in T20 international cricket | 7 | 14 |
Surprisingly, while Rohit Sharma has played a lot of more T20 international matches than Virat, he has still managed to score a lesser number of runs. Another striking thing is that Kohli is yet to score his maiden T20 international hundred while Rohit has already smashed 4 tonnes in his T20 international career.
Rohit also lacks an overall average. This might be due to the fact that he is yet to become a consistent batsman like Virat. ICC T20I rankings for batsmen of both of them is not that great. We can say that both of them have a lot of scope for improvement.
Virat Kohli vs Rohit Sharma First Class Cricket Stats
| Virat Kohli | Rohit Sharma | |
| Number of matches played | 109 | 92 |
| Number of runs scored | 8936 | 7118 |
| Overall average as a batsman | 53.75 | 56.04 |
| Number of centuries | 32 | 23 |
| Number of half-centuries | 28 | 30 |
In the first-class cricket that these players, Rohit seems to be the better performer out of the two. His superior average pays testimony to this very fact. But the contest is quite close as Virat is not that behind Rohit Sharma.
Virat Kohli vs Rohit Sharma IPL (Indian Premier League) Stats
| Virat Kohli | Rohit Sharma | |
| Number of Matches Played | 192 | 200 |
| Number of runs scored | 5878 | 5230 |
| Best score as a batsman | 113 | 109 |
| Overall Average in the IPL | 38.17 | 31.32 |
| Number of centuries | 5 | 1 |
| Number of half-centuries | 39 | 39 |
King Kohli again is better than Rohit hands down. He has a better average, a high score, and, number of centuries. Coincidently, they both have the same number of half-centuries. But Rohit has played comparatively a greater number of matches given the fact that his current team MI (Mumbai Indians) has played the final so many numbers of times.
Final Verdict About Who is Better?
We have compared both the batsmen in all forms of cricket that they play. We can now safely say that Virat Kohli is far better than Rohit Sharma as a cricketer and a batsman. Several reasons can be attributed to this. One is consistency. Virat is far more consistent as a batsman as compared to Rohit as this is evident by the better batting average of the Indian skipper.
Another reason is fitness. Kohli is far more fit than Rohit. Cricket is a physically demanding sport as we all know and hence fitness of player has to be better. Rohit, therefore, needs to work on his fitness issue a lot.
Hopefully, he will work on his performance and fitness and will become as great as Kohli.
