'Don't know about the list but...': Gambhir reacts to Virat Kohli breaking Sachin Tendulkar's world record

Virat Kohli's name would hardly feature in the list of the players who made a difference in India's six-wicket victory in the second Test against Australia in Delhi. Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami and Axar Patel made match-winning contributions either with the bat or with the ball in both innings of the Test to help India retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. But if one looks beyond just the numbers and focuses on the way Kohli batted in both the innings then it won't take long for him or her to state he perhaps looked the best batter on display. Kohli may not have got a significant score - he was out for 44 and 20 - but his assured foot movement, precise length judgement and immaculate use of wrists were a good tutorial for youngsters trying to learn how to bat on low, turning Indian pitches.

Kohli was exceptional against Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy and Matthew Kuhnemann in the first innings of the Delhi Test. He, in fact, looked well set for a big one, when a debatable umpiring decision brought about a premature end to his innings. In the second innings, he was done by a very good slider by Murphy.

The likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Mark Waugh, Dinesh Karthik and Gautam Gambhir were impressed by Kohli's assured knocks and felt the former India captain is just inches away from putting an end to his century drought in the longest format of the game.

Kohli, nonetheless, got a huge milestone to his name on Day 3 of the second Test. He became the fastest to reach 25000 international runs. The prolific right-hander who got their in 549 innings, surpassed Sachin Tendulkar, who had got there in 577 innings. The list includes Ricky Ponting (588 innings), Jacques Kallis (594 innings), Kumar Sangakkara (608 innings), and Mahela Jayawerdene (701 innings).

Reacting to Kohli's staggering world record, former India opener Gambhir said the USP of Kohli is that he has been equally successful in all conditions.

"I don't know about the list but the best part of Virat Kohli is that he has performed the same in India and in Australia, in South Africa. There will be an Australia or a South African in the list but you have to compare their numbers in the subcontinent as well. Kohli is a master of the 50-overs format but in Test cricket too he has scored 27 hundreds, and 28 fifties. He has centuries in England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies. What more can you achieve?

"Scoring 25 thousand runs is no joke. He has seen a lot of ups and downs but has remained consistent. Your game goes through a lot of changes. Your stance changes, your technique changes, your strengths and weaknesses change, your mode of dismissals become different, your emotions change and if you can factor in all of that, control all these things and score these many runs then you are a great," Gambhir said on Star Sports.