‘Virat Kohli was even better than Sachin Tendulkar’: AB de Villiers names India great who raised the bar overseas

South Africa great AB de Villiers has credited Sachin Tendulkar with pioneering India’s success in overseas Test conditions but believes former Royal Challengers Bengaluru teammate Virat Kohli took that legacy to an even higher level.

De Villiers made the remarks after India’s 165-run win over Sri Lanka in Galle on Wednesday. Speaking on his YouTube channel, he said Tendulkar was the first Indian batter to demonstrate that players from the subcontinent could thrive in seaming and bouncy conditions abroad, while Kohli raised the standard 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,” de Villiers said.

Tendulkar, who retired from international cricket in 2013, remains the leading run-scorer in Test history with 15,921 runs from 200 matches. Kohli retired from Test cricket in May 2025 after scoring 9,230 runs in 123 Tests.

Tendulkar scored 8,705 of his Test runs outside India and remains the highest run-scorer in overseas Test cricket. Kohli, meanwhile, accumulated 4,774 runs in 66 Tests away from home.

The numbers in SENA countries — South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia — also favour Tendulkar. He scored 5,387 runs in 63 Tests at an average of 51.30, including 17 centuries and 23 fifties. Kohli managed 3,661 runs in 46 Tests at an average of 42.08, with 12 centuries and 14 fifties.

Despite the statistical gap, de Villiers’ assessment appears to focus on Kohli’s wider impact on India’s transformation into a formidable Test side overseas. Kohli’s leadership and performances during India’s successful overseas campaigns helped set higher standards for the next generation.

De Villiers said the influence of both Tendulkar and Kohli can now be seen in India’s current batting lineup, including KL Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal.

“Because of that, there are quite a few players now like [KL] Rahul and [Devdutt] Padikkal, who have started to up that trend and follow in the footsteps of a Virat and a Sachin,” he said.

However, de Villiers believes Rahul needs to convert his starts into bigger scores overseas. He praised the opener’s technique but pointed out that Rahul averages only 34 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,” de Villiers said.

He added that Rahul needs to turn his centuries and starts into substantially bigger innings, arguing that his next step should be to convert good starts into scores of 180 or more.