Warne said it was difficult to compare two best batsmen of different eras | Photo Credit: AP

Virat Kohli is already a modern day great and the Indian captain continues to build his legacy with his unmatched hunger for runs. He has been one of the most consistent run-getters across formats in the past couple of years and has often garnered comparisons with the legendary Sachin Tendulkar. Kohli is currently the only active cricketer closest to Sachin's record of 100 international centuries and looks in prime touch to shatter the record.

Kohli has already slammed an incredible 64 international hundreds in 77 Tests and 222 ODI appearances for India and stands just 37 short of overhauling Sachin's record. Kohli continues to pile on the runs at a brilliant rate earning comparisons with Sachin and the latest to weigh in on the debate is legendary Australian spinner, Shane Warne.

Warne said it was difficult for him to compare the two batting greats of their respective generations as the conditions now are much more suitable for batsmen then what they were when Sachin played the game. Having spent a career playing against Sachin, Warne reckoned he will rather wait and see Kohli do greater things in his career before he can make a choice.

"Very hard to judge when someone is playing and very hard to judge eras. Think about the bowlers in the '90s. Different surfaces that seamed. Now they're a lot flatter. The ball swung more. So many invariables. But to think that someone was better than Brian Lara and Sachin - in those mid-'90s - against Wasim, Waqar, Curtly, Courtney, McGrath, Donald, Saqlain, Mushy, Vettori, Murali, myself. You can go on," Warne told Times of India.

"Virat is breaking all the records, which is great but I want to wait. See, what people miss is this: You can set benchmarks, score those many centuries, average that high, score a lot many runs. But what people are going to remember you for is the way you played the game. Someone should run down the street and ask fans, how many runs did Mark Waugh make or what his average was? They wouldn't have a clue but chances are, here's what they'll say: I loved watching him play. To my mind, what's already evident is that Virat is one of the best players of all time. In One-dayers, he probably has to go down with Viv Richards as the greatest ever, not so much for the record but for the way he plays his game. But I'll judge him at the end of his career," he concluded.

Kohli has been India's best batsman in the past few years by a fair distance. He rounded off a stellar 2018 by being named the ICC Cricketer of the year and the captain of both ICC ODI and Test XI of the year. Kohli has so far amassed 6613 runs in 77 Test matches and 10533 runs in 22 ODIs at an amazing average of 53.76 and 59.50 respectively. He was rested from the T20I series against New Zealand as India suffered a 2-1 defeat.

Kohli will return to action for India in the upcoming T20I series against Australia as India look to get the team combination right ahead of the 2019 ICC World Cup.