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They were by far the best side at the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. A team that had the top run scorer of the competition, the best batsman in the world and a man who could bowl yorkers at will. A team that lost just once en route the semifinals. But when the knockouts came along, none could help their side get the better of New Zealand.

"The game pretty much changed in those first 40 minutes when we were batting," Kohli would say after the match. "The pressure created was immense in those first 40, 45 minutes. And when you lose 3 for 5 it is very difficult to come back into the game." But how much was the pressure?

While Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah can be pardoned for enduring a rare off day on the field, it’s difficult to say the same about their skipper. For a man who’s known to raise his game every time he walks out to bat, it was barely the case for Kohli at the World Cup. He has enjoyed the English conditions in the past, but this time, the Indian skipper was anything but prolific at the World Cup.

In the nine games he played in England, the Indian skipper could muster 442 runs with a highest score of 82, at an average of 55.25. Though for any other batsman, these numbers would be enough to return home a happy man. But for someone who’s often being the benchmark of excellence in cricket off late, they barely do any justice. And when you are to compare him to a certain Sachin Tendulkar, a trend that has been followed ever since Kohli took over the Indian team’s mantle, things look even bleaker.

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If you are to keep his debut World Cup aside, the Master Blaster was the bedrock on which India made most of its moves. Tendulkar has at least a century to show for each of his campaigns and an average well over 40, during a period when batting was relatively difficult. And add the ‘player of the tournament’ title that he won in 2003, Tendulkar was undoubtedly the most feared batsman of his generation.

Though over the years Kohli has shown us signs of being the best in the business, the numbers definitely back this claim. He’s barely turned up with quality knocks when his team needed him too on the biggest of stages. In the three World Cup semifinals he has played so far, he’s had a forgetful outing. With numbers like 1, 9 and 1 against your name, it hardly a guess that Kohli has been nothing put a spectator in such crunch situations.

Over the years, Sachin's critics would have argued that the Master Blaster played only for his runs and not for the team, but had Kohli done that against New Zealand, India may have made it to their fourth World Cup final.

Feature image courtesy: AFP Photo/ Dibyangshu Sarkar

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World Cup 2019Virat KohliNew ZealandIndiaSachin Tendulkar