Former South African skipper AB de Villiers has issued a clarification over a viral Virat Kohli-Sachin Tendulkar comparison. AB was criticised widely by experts and fans after he said Kohli was stronger than Tendulkar while playing in SENA countries in the red-ball version.

However, in his defense, de Villiers said Virat Kohli was instrumental in the development of Indian batters when it came to batting in overseas conditions.

“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,” AB had earlier said on his YouTube Channel.

“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,” he said in his latest video on his YouTube channel.

AB said Virat Kohli led by example in the Test format and had an all-round game, taking India to new heights in the red-ball version.

“We can always look at stats and say Virat’s stats were not as good abroad, especially because of England, he really struggled there. 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 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 like. Staying fit, leading by example, having the all-round game,” AB de Villiers said.

Kohli scored 9230 runs in his Test career whereas Tendulkar is the highest run-getter in the format with 15921 runs.