South Africa great AB De Villiers dubbed Virat Kohli better than Sachin Tendulkar in overseas Tests. De Villiers said that Tendulkar was the trend-setter in Indian cricket and instilled belief that the subcontinent batters can do well in bouncy and seaming conditions; however, Kohli raised the bar and took the belief to another level. De Villiers made the remarks after India’s win over Sri Lanka in the first Test in Galle.

Tendulkar is the leading run scorer in Test cricket, with 15921 runs in 200 matches, while Kohli finished with 9230 runs in 123 games. Out of his total runs, Tendulkar scored 8705 runs away from home while Kohli scored 4774 runs outside India. More so, in SENA countries, Tendulkar scored 5,387 runs in 63 Tests at an average of 51.30, with 17 centuries and 23 fifties. Kohli, on the other hand, scored 3,661 runs in 46 Tests at an average of 42.08, with 12 centuries and 14 fifties.

The numbers point to Tendulkar being slightly ahead in terms of numbers; however, Kohli made a larger impact on India’s transformation as a dominant side away from home.

“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.

De Villiers added that players like Tendulkar and Kohli have influenced the current crop of Indian batters, including Devdutt Padikkal and KL Rahul, to improve their performances away from home. Padikkal had a magnificent outing in the first Test against Sri Lanka and scored a match-winning century in Galle.

De Villiers said Kohli and Tendulkar have now influenced the current crop of Indian batters, including KL Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal, to improve their performances away from home.

Rahul also scored a brilliant 82; however, De Villiers feels there is still scope for improvement when it comes to returns away from home.

“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.