De Villiers acknowledged Tendulkar as the original trailblazer who proved that subcontinent batsmen could thrive in seaming and bouncy foreign environments, but emphasized that Kohli took that conviction to unprecedented heights. South African batting great AB de Villiers offered high praise following India’s 165-run win over Sri Lanka in Galle on Wednesday, asserting that his former Royal Challengers Bengaluru teammate Virat Kohli surpassed even Sachin Tendulkar in elevating India’s standards overseas.
Evaluating the Legend Comparison The remarks were shared via his YouTube channel shortly after India’s triumph. ‘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. ‘KL is a guy with a sound technique and is a big asset in that Indian lineup. So you’ll expect more and that is one area where he has to work on.
Because that first-ball duck and getting out to the newish ball is always around the corner, he has to get bigger scores once he gets in and not just get a 100 but make it a 180. But he averages only 34 away from home.
Virat took that forward and raised the bar,’ said de Villiers on his YouTube channel. So for him, the name of the game will be to make the big scores even bigger,’ said de Villiers.
