Harbhajan Singh heaped praise on the top two batsmen of the world after their sensational display in the first ODI against the Windies on Sunday in Guwahati.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who are No.1 and No.2 in the ODI rankings for batsmen currently, slammed centuries to help India cruise home in their chase of 323 in the first ODI.

While Kohli made an aggressive 140, Rohit saw his team home with an unbeaten 152. The pair stitched together a 246-run stand for the second wicket and batted Windies out of the game completely. The stand was their fifth 200-plus run stand in ODI cricket -- the most by any pair in the history of the game.

And their one-time teammate was just bowled over after seeing their dominance on the field.

"Rohit Sharma is a player of a different level. When Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma play, it is difficult to judge who is better. The No.1 and No.2 ranking is justified for them and for me...both of them are No.1. The pair is No.1 and whenever they bat together, they dominate.



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When India were playing a home series against Australia, they won't allow anybody below No.3 to bat. These two showed again that they dominate whenever they bat together and not that they give chances while batting. They are exceptional players," Harbhajan said.

He also praised Kohli for his outstanding show on Sunday. Kohli scored his 36th ton in ODIs and 60th overall and became the fastest to reach the landmark. And, Harbhajan feels that Kohli's game is so strong that it is difficult to get him out if he doesn't make a mistake.



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"It looked like Virat Kohli was batting on a different wicket altogether. It looked like he came to dominate and won't stop. The amount of hard work Virat has put in on his game, he doesn't' give chances. He plays down the ground mostly, doesn't play much lofted shots. So, his game is so strong that to get him out, you need to bowl a really good delivery," an awestruck Harbhajan said.

"Virat Kohli is getting better day-by-day and nobody knows how to get him out really and I feel, when he stops playing, nobody can break them that easily," he added.



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However, he went on to add that if there's one player in the Indian team, who is as good as Kohli, it has to be Rohit.

"Virat's numbers have grown over the last couple of years and if I say there is anybody near him, I'll have to say Rohit. If I say Rohit isn't as good a player as Virat, it'll be unfair on him. Both are No.1 players," Harbhajan said.

When asked about how these two guys were when they made their international debut for India, Harbhajan said: "Virat's hunger has grown over the years compared to when he came in. The hunger for runs was there from the U-19 days and there was no deficiency in terms of talent. But, his hard work has taken him where he is now. There was a time during the Test series versus West Indies long back when he was getting out constantly while trying to hook and it seemed like he will never get selected again. But, he showed through hard work that someone can achieve anything through hard work," Harbhajan said.



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"If I speak of Rohit, he hit three-four sixes off Morne Morkel in the T20 World Cup in South Africa on a bouncy Durban track. I understood then only that he has a special talent. And, if I just speak of talent, he will be above Kohli but with hard work, Kohli left everyone behind.

But, if Rohit works a tad harder, he can leave Kohli behind with the amount of capability he has. But, it is great to see two of the world's best batsmen are from India and they are dominating the game," Harbhajan added in his assessment of Rohit.

The 38-year-old is not wrong actually. While Kohli has been raking in the numbers with his consistent show over the years, Rohit has also been scoring runs for fun. On Sunday, he registered his sixth 150-plus score to overtake Sachin Tendulkar and David Warner, who have five each.

The 30-year-old also went past Ganguly's tally of sixes in ODIs. Ganguly has hit 189 sixes while Rohit now has slammed 194 maximums which puts him third in the list amongst Indians. Only Tendulkar (195) and MS Dhoni (210) are ahead of him.

Rohit hit eight sixes in the match and this was the sixth time he has achieved the feat of hitting 6 or more maximums in a game.



