Former India fast bowler Dodda Ganesh has taken a cheeky swipe at AB de Villiers after the South African great claimed Virat Kohli was a stronger Test batter than Sachin Tendulkar in challenging overseas conditions. De Villiers’ assessment reignited the long-running debate over Kohli and Tendulkar after he suggested that while Tendulkar had shown Indian batters they could succeed on bouncy and seam-friendly pitches, Kohli subsequently took that standard to another level.
Ganesh was clearly not convinced. Reacting to De Villiers’ comments on X, the former India pacer delivered a brutally short response. “Pass on the weed, brother,” Ganesh wrote.
The remark quickly drew attention because of the stature of the two players being compared and De Villiers’ well-known friendship with Kohli, developed during their years together at Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League.
AB de Villiers puts Kohli ahead of Tendulkar overseas
De Villiers had made the comparison while discussing the evolution of Indian batters in difficult overseas conditions on his YouTube channel. “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.
He also pointed towards the next generation of Indian batters following the path laid down by Tendulkar and Kohli. “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,” he added.
Ganesh’s response reflected how contentious De Villiers’ assessment is, particularly when Tendulkar’s numbers away from home are considered. Tendulkar scored 8,705 runs in 106 overseas Tests at an average of 54.74, with 29 centuries. Kohli finished with 4,894 runs in 68 Tests outside India at an average of 41.47.
Tendulkar also produced some of the defining overseas performances of his generation across a career that stretched more than two decades. His record included centuries in Australia, England, South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Kohli, though, enjoyed a remarkable overseas peak of his own. His 2018 tour of England remains one of the finest by an Indian batter in the country, with Kohli scoring 593 runs in five Tests at an average of 59.30, including two centuries. He also scored four hundreds during the 2014-15 Test series in Australia.
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The former India captain’s influence extended beyond his batting. Under Kohli, India developed into one of Test cricket’s strongest travelling sides and won their first-ever Test series in Australia in 2018-19. De Villiers’ argument appeared to centre more on Kohli’s ability at his peak against pace and movement rather than simply overall career numbers. Ganesh, however, made it clear in just five words that he was having none of it.