Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers praised India stalwarts Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli for showing subcontinent batters how to succeed in SENA countries. However, de Villiers suggested that Kohli did more than Tendulkar to establish himself as a dominant Test batter in overseas conditions. While the records may suggest otherwise, de Villiers said that although Tendulkar was the first to crack the code of succeeding in seaming and bouncy conditions, he believed his former Royal Challengers Bengaluru teammate played a bigger role in India’s rise as a Test cricket powerhouse.
“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 on his YouTube channel.
De Villiers pointed out that Kohli and Tendulkar’s success away from home has inspired the current crop of Indian players, including KL Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal, to raise their game on overseas tours.
“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 added.
De Villiers also suggested that Rahul still has room for improvement in terms of his returns away from home, despite showcasing the technique required to succeed in challenging conditions.
“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
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