Why AB de Villiers Ranks Virat Kohli Ahead of Sachin Tendulkar In Overseas Conditions? Here's What You Need To Know

Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar happen to be two pioneers of Indian cricket. Sachin is considered to be India's backbone, while Virat took his legacy forward and helped India turn into a cricketing powerhouse. With both of them retired from the red-ball format, India has been in a transition phase in Test cricket.

ABD Rates Virat Kohli Better Than Sachin Tendulkar

India defeated Sri Lanka by 165 runs at Galle to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match Test series. India's recent performance on home soil hasn't been encouraging as they lost to New Zealand and South Africa. India's overseas display has been satisfactory and AB de Villiers dissected India's performance away from home.

The former Proteas batter believes Virat has a better record than Sachin in overseas conditions. On his YouTube channel, he said, “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."

What Does The Record Say?

With Virat retiring, only Joe Root remains the only batter who could get past Sachin's tally of 15921 runs in 200 matches. Root has accumulated 14151 runs and has recently been reappointed as England's Test captain. Virat couldn't breach the 10000 run mark and ended his Test career with 9230 runs as it stands.

When it comes to scoring runs away from home, Tendulkar has a definite edge over Kohli. Of his total runs, around 55% were scored on overseas grounds, which is roughly estimated to be 8705 runs, while Virat could manage 4,774 runs in 66 Test matches away from home.

Also Read: IND vs SL: Manav Suthar’s Maiden 10-Wicket Masterclass Powers India To 165-Run Victory Over Sri Lanka In Galle