Virender Sehwag Picks Virat Kohli Over 'Lion' Sachin Tendulkar In Best ODI Batters List. Explains Why

Though a debate over better players across eras remains a difficult one to justify, former India opening batter Virender Sehwag picked Virat Kohli as the No. 1 batter in ODI cricket history, ahead of his long-term teammate Sachin Tendulkar. Despite the fact that many reckon Tendulkar as the 'God' of cricket, a player who defined an era of cricket with his batting brilliance, Sehwag could only give him the No. 2 spot on his list. But, the former attacking opening batter did explain why he picked Virat over Sachin.

In a chat on Cricbuzz, Sehwag picked his top 5 batters in ODI cricket history. The list began with the legendary West Indies batter Chris Gayle, who was given the No. 5 spot. Gayle has a whopping 10480 runs to his name in the format in 304 appearances.

"Chris Gayle was a great batsman and opener. I remember India came to the West Indies in 2002-03, and Chris Gayle hit three centuries in a six-match series. He was the first player I saw at the international level who used to hit sixes from the back foot to fast bowlers," he said.

The No. 4 spot was given to AB de Villiers, former South Africa captain, who aggregated 9577 runs in 228 ODIs over the course of his career. He was followed by ex Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq who scored 11739 runs in 350 innings.

"No. 4 is AB de Villiers. I really liked the way he used to play. He's the only batsman who can hit sixes off-balance. No. 3 is Inzamam-ul-Haq. He's one of the best ODI players from Asia. Inzamam used to come out to bat at No. 4 and used to control the match. So, I learned from him how to take the match to the end. How you can control the match. At that time, it was very difficult to chase seven or eight runs in an over. But Inzamam used to do it with a