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Former South Africa National Cricket Team batter and the former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) teammate of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, keeps Kohli ahead of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar in terms of India batters' performance in Tests in overseas conditions. de Villiers' assessments on Kohli and Tendulkar came after India's 165-run victory against Sri Lanka in Galle.
Speaking on his official YouTube channel, the former South Africa cricketer said that while Sachin Tendulkar was the trend setter for the Indian cricket team in Tests, Virat Kohli took the trend one step ahead. Villiers opined that Tendulkar was not as strong as someone like Kohli.
AB de Villiers puts Virat Kohli ahead of Sachin Tendulkar in Test cricket
Acknowledging Sachin Tendulkar's importance in Indian cricket as well as world cricket, AB de Villiers expressed that undoubtedly the Indian batting icon was the first to step up and showed even the subcontinent batters could perform in overseas conditions, but denied ranking Kohli after him.
"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 stated.
The stats are hinting at a different story. Despite Villiers' remarks over the two Indian batting legends from two different generations, the numbers are in favour of the 'God of Cricket'.
Sachin Tendulkar remains the highest run-scorer in Test cricket
To date, Sachin Tendulkar remains the highest run-scorer in Test cricket with 15,921 runs in 200 matches before retiring in 2013. On the other side, Kohli, who retired in May 2025, scored 9,230 runs in 123 Tests. In the list of all-time most run-scorers in Tests, the former India captain is ranked 19th, way after Tendulkar.
Under the leadership of Kohli, the Indian cricket team emerged as one of the most dominant forces in Test cricket. Whether it was a home series or an away series, the Kohli-led India turned out as a real threat for the opposing teams. Even in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia), Virat and his boys performed with mobility.
Overseas Test stats of Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar
But when the discussion is between Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, then their batting stats join the debate automatically. Even in away series, the Mumbai-born has better batting numbers than the Delhi-born. Within those 15,921 runs, Sachin Tendulkar got 8,705 runs during his matches away from home, while Kohli claimed 4,774 runs in 66 away Tests.
In SENA nations too, Sachin Tendulkar produced better numbers than Virat Kohli. While de Villiers' former Teammate bagged 3,661 runs in 46 Tests in SENA nations, Sachin Tendulkar scored 5,387 runs in 63 Tests with an average of 51.30, including 17 centuries and 23 fifties. Virat's overall average in those nations was 42.08, supported by 12 centuries and 14 fifties.
