Tendulkar much better player than Kohli: Yousuf

Karachi, Jan 17:Former Pakistan batsman Muhammad Yousuf rates legendary Sachin Tendulkar as a better performer than Virat Kohli despite the current India captain's recent astounding form.�I don't want to take anything away from Kohli. He is an exceptional talent. But I rate Tendulkar much higher because of the era he played in, against the best teams, fast bowlers and spinners," Yousuf told PTI in an interview.�Nowadays, the quality of players is not the same as it was say in the 90s and until 2011. After 2011 World Cup the quality has come down. Tendulkar was a world class player and this can be judged by the number of runs and hundreds he scored against strong opposition in all conditions and in all formats," Yousuf said.�I played a lot against Tendulkar and he was a masterclass and produced match winning knocks many a times. I don't think Kohli is facing the same quality bowlers or opposition.�Yousuf, 42, who ended with an impressive average of 52.29 and 41.71 in 90 Tests and 288 ODIs, also slammed the Pakistan team for losing the Test series in Australia by three-nil.�This was one of the weakest Australian teams we have seen and a series we should have won ended up three-nil. The tragedy is that the last two Tests could have been drawn easily by us but our batting failed miserably on good batting tracks,� said Yousuf.He also dismissed observations by head coach Mickey Arthur that Pakistan's bowlers had let the team down in New Zealand and Australia.�It was the batting which let us down badly in all five Tests in both countries," Yousuf said.He also advised Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq to call it a day and retire gracefully instead of trying to prolong a career which was already extended. (PTI)