“Kohli Made Winning Out of Losing Matches…”: When Imran Khan, a former captain of Pakistan, ranked Virat higher than Sachin Tendulkar

Imran Khan, the former prime minister of Pakistan, once admitted to Ajay Bisaria, the Indian high commissioner to Pakistan for two years, that he thought Virat Kohli was better than Sachin Tendulkar. In an interview with The Indian Express, Bisaria, who was subsequently kicked out of Pakistan for opposing the repeal of Art. 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, remembered this episode.

“Imran Khan told me that he thought Virat Kohli was clearly the best cricketer in the world and he would rate him much higher than Tendulkar,” Bisaria was cited by The Indian Express as saying during one of the Iftar parties he had organized.

“Because, he said, Kohli converted defeating matchups into victories, something Tendulkar could not always do.

“In Pakistan, even Dhoni has a sizable fan base.”

The politician who was once a cricket player was just given a lengthy prison term. In April 2022, Khan was ousted from office as well by a contentious no-confidence vote in parliament.

The former ambassador, Bisaria, said that, similar to Imran Khan in India, Virat Kohli is very popular in Pakistan among the current group.

“Because everything else is subordinate to the religion of cricket, which is a subcontinental religion.” One crucial instrument of people-to-people diplomacy has been sports diplomacy. Cricket diplomacy has often served as a springboard for bilateral diplomacy. But we must acknowledge its limitations.”

Nevertheless, commerce and cricket are low-hanging fruit when the connection improves. Bisaria came to an end.