'Sachin Wasn't Strong As...': AB De Villiers Names The Indian Batter Who Raised The Bar Beyond Sachin Tendulkar

India’s 165-run win over Sri Lanka in Galle on Wednesday may have belonged to the present, but AB de Villiers used the occasion to revisit a debate involving two of Indian cricket’s greatest names, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, the former South Africa captain reflected on how Indian batters have evolved in overseas conditions, crediting Tendulkar for breaking the barrier before suggesting that Kohli took that standard even further.

“I think of someone like Sachin Tendulkar way back, who started that trend for India. Yet, he wasn’t as strong as someone like Virat Kohli, who was even better. But Sachin was the first guy to show that as a subcontinent batter, you can do well in bouncy and seaming conditions. Virat took that forward and raised the bar,” said de Villiers on his YouTube channel.

The comparison is bound to divide opinions, especially when the numbers are brought into the picture. Tendulkar finished his Test career with 15,921 runs and 51 centuries, while Kohli signed off with 9,230 runs and 30 hundreds. Away from home, Tendulkar’s record was particularly remarkable, with 8,705 runs at an average above 54 and 29 centuries. Kohli, meanwhile, scored more than 4,000 away runs with 16 hundreds.

Tendulkar Built The Road, Kohli Changed The Mindset

The raw numbers may favour Tendulkar, but de Villiers’ point appears to be about influence as much as statistics. Tendulkar showed that an Indian batter could conquer Australia, England and South Africa.

Kohli arrived in a different era and became the face of an Indian team that no longer travelled abroad merely hoping to compete. His seven Test centuries in Australia, for instance, underline his success in one of cricket’s toughest environments.

That difference perhaps explains why the Tendulkar-versus-Kohli debate refuses to have a straightforward answer. One set the benchmark; the other pushed an already confident Indian side to believe that winning overseas could be an expectation rather than an exception.

De Villiers Wants KL Rahul To Go Bigger

De Villiers also reserved praise, and a challenge, for KL Rahul, describing him as technically sound but urging him to make his big scores count for more.

“KL is a guy with a sound technique and is a big asset in that Indian lineup. But he averages only 34 away from home. So you’ll expect more and that is one area where he has to work on. He has to get bigger scores once he gets in and not just get a 100 but make it a 180 because that first-ball duck and getting out to the newish ball is always around the corner. So for him, the name of the game will be to make the big scores even bigger,” said de Villiers.

At the end, we must admit that Tendulkar opened the door, Kohli raised the standard, and Rahul now has the opportunity to turn promise into an even bigger overseas legacy.