AB De Villiers Issues Clarification After Facing Backlash For Rating Virat Kohli Over Sachin Tendulkar

South Africa's legendary cricketer and former captain, AB de Villiers, has issued a clarification after facing criticism for rating Virat Kohli over Sachin Tendulkar. The South African great had said that, in his opinion, Kohli was better than Tendulkar when it came to seam-friendly overseas conditions. He went on to suggest that Tendulkar was a pioneer for subcontinent batters, but Kohli surpassed him. The comments by de Villiers didn't go down well, with the former international facing criticism and a huge backlash on social media.

"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. Because of that, there are quite a few players now like Rahul and Padikkal, who have started to up that trend and follow in the footsteps of a Virat and a Sachin," de Villiers had stated on his YouTube channel.

After his views sparked controversy, the former South Africa captain came up with a clarification.

"There was a bit of confusion with my Virat and Sachin comment. Remember, it's my opinion. I'm not axing anyone. I'm telling you the way that I see it. Sachin was the first to take things forward for India, showing all the youngsters what it takes to perform consistently everywhere around the world. I said that Virat sort of showed that there is a different dynamic to Indian batting by being good on the short ball. He found a way to counter that," de Villiers said in another video on his YouTube channel.

He admitted that Kohli's numbers away from home are not as impressive as those of Sachin, but added that statistics are not everything.

"We can always look at stats and say Virat's stats were not as good abroad, especially because of England, where he really struggled. But I still feel he looked confident and played the all-round, well-balanced cricket that's needed to succeed abroad and inspired a lot of youngsters around him. He took what he learnt from Sachin and took it forward. His record is not as good as Sachin's away from home, but we don't always look at stats, especially not me. And that's what I meant with showing the new generation of cricketers how the way forward should look. Staying fit, leading by example, having the all-round game," de Villiers concluded.

Featured Video Of The Day

Topics mentioned in this article

Cricket India Cricket Team South Africa Cricket Team AB de Villiers Sachin Tendulkar Virat Kohli