India vs South Africa, 4th ODI: Sourav Ganguly feels Virat Kohli is as great as Sachin Tendulkar in ODIs. (Reuters)

Virat Kohli has drawn rich praise from plenty of cricketers over the years but the best one was reserved by Sourav Ganguly who put him at par with Sachin Tendulkar.

Kohli has been in sensational form since 2016, hammering hundreds at will across formats. He has been particularly brilliant in ODIs and finished 2017 as the highest scorer in the format with 1460 runs and six hundreds.

He started 2018 on a high as well, hammering two hundreds in three ODIs in South Africa, giving India an unbeatable lead in the six-match series. India, thanks to Kohli, are now on the cusp of a historic series win in South Africa.

Before this tour, India had never defeated South Africa in an ODI in South Africa - Kohli scored 318 runs and India now have three successive ODI wins.

Speaking exclusively to India Today, Ganguly said Kohli was a better player than him and at par with Tendulkar in ODIs: "Kohli as good as Sachin Tendulkar in one-day cricket. He is a better player than me.

"He is a great player - I don't use that word very easily. He is by far ahead of anyone else - Smith, de Villiers, all the others in the modern game," Ganguly said.

Kohli has 34 hundreds in ODIs and is second in the list of most century makers behind Sachin Tendulkar, who had scored 49 hundreds.

Kohli's unbeaten 160 in the third ODI in Cape Town drew rave reviews because he had to adapt to tough conditions and ran 100 runs - a record for an Indian batsman.

Ganguly, one of the greatest ODI batsmen in history himself, said Kohli's ability to adapt to different situations set him apart.

"What stands out for me is the way he adapts to situations., You have to be very, very good to be able to control the game that way."

Ganguly said Kohli has made all the difference for India with the bat on the tour of South Africa.

"There have been three hundreds for India and all three have been scored by Ganguly. Pujara got a fifty in the Test series, Ajinkya Rahane got a half-century in Durban and Shikhar Dhawan got half-centuries in Centurion and Cape Town.

"That shows the impact this man has had in the series," Ganguly said.

Starting from 2016, Kohli has scored 11 ODI hundreds - three came in 2016, six in 2017 and two in 2018. Many back him to one day overtake Tendulkar's record of 49 ODI hundreds.