Two of the best batsmen in the world right now – Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers – are in the form of their lives, and they are reigniting the long debate of ‘who is the best batsman in the world’ with their stellar performances in IPL 2016. The duo, who play for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL, are redefining the art of batting with their stupendous displays.
Their stature has even drawn comparisons with two of the current football greats Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who have been mesmerising football fans over the last 10 years. The charismatic Cristiano Ronaldo and the incredible Lionel Messi are undoubtedly the best footballers in the world right now, and it was obvious that some fans of both games would try to compare them with the current cricketing superstars.
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Recently when England wicket-keeper Jos Buttler tweeted that watching AB and Virat bat together felt like Ronaldo and Messi playing on the same team, the fans went berserk. But finding similarities between the quartet was not an easy task.
Here are 5 reasons why Virat Kohli and AB de Villers are the Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi of cricket.
1) Consistency
Each of these four players has been an epitome of consistency for their respective teams, and they have nullified the law of the averages with gusto. Year after year, season after season they have kept performing for their teams, and that has really made them stand out from the rest.
If we look at Kohli, De Villers, Ronaldo and Messi’s career average and statistics, we can clearly see that these players have been thoroughly consistent over the years. Barring a few lean patches, they have always been up to the mark.
Let’s have a look at some of the glittering statistics that these gentlemen possess. We are considering assists and goals as the benchmarks in football and average as a benchmark in cricket.
In Football: (records updated up to 22 May 2016)
| Player | Apperances | Goals | Assists | Goal Ratio | Assist Ratio |
| Lionel Messi | 638 | 503 | 209 | 0.79 | 0.33 |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | 795 | 543 | 180 | 0.68 | 0.22 |
One has to keep in mind that Ronaldo started as a winger and later moved to the striker position. Messi too has often changed his role and played in the supportive role as well. But irrespective of their position, these two geniuses have a superlative record for their respectively clubs and countries.
In cricket, AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli have been consistent across the formats and their career averages are perfect examples of that.
In Cricket: (records updated up to 26 May 2016)
| Player | Tests | Runs | Average | ODIs | Runs | Average | T20s | Runs | Average |
| AB de Villiers | 106 | 8074 | 50.46 | 200 | 8621 | 54.56 | 209 | 5151 | 33.01 |
| Virat Kohli | 41 | 2994 | 44.02 | 171 | 7212 | 51.51 | 203 | 6391 | 41.77 |
Even Kohi’s T20I stats are mind-boggling, and if someone looks at his staggering record in chases, he can surely understand the kind of impact the 27-year-old has had over the years. Even the consistency of De Villiers across all formats is a seriously unique feat as he is someone who can adapt to any format rather quickly.
2) Record-breakers
The quartet break records game after game and make the jobs of statisticians quite tough. They keep churning out unbelievable performances and rewrite the record books day in and day out. Let’s look at some of the unbelievable records that these four phenomenal gentlemen currently hold.
They have broken multiple records and we have picked 5 of them to prove their supremacy.
In Cricket
| Record | Player |
| Fastest 50, 100 and 150 in ODIs | AB de Villiers |
| Most ICC ODI player of the year awards | AB de Villiers |
| Fastest to reach 8000 runs in ODIs | AB de Villiers |
| Fastest to reach 6000 and 7000 runs in ODIs | Virat Kohli |
| Highest runs in a T20 tournament | Virat Kohli |
In Football
| Record | Player |
| Ballon d’Or awards (5) | Lionel Messi |
| Fastest to reach 300 goals in Europe’s top 5 leagues | Lionel Messi |
| Youngest player to reach 250 league goals | Lionel Messi |
| Highest number of goals in a single Champions League season | Cristiano Ronaldo |
| Fastest to reach 200 goals in La Liga | Cristiano Ronaldo |
And there are plenty more. These four have shattered a lot of records and they are poised to break even more as they venture ahead in their respective careers. In cricket, Kohli and De Villiers have been able to constantly rewrite the record books and in this aspect these two can be termed the Ronaldo-Messi of cricket.
3) Amalgamation of talent and hard work
Talent can take you to a certain level. But after that, it is the amalgamation of hard work and talent which matters the most. We have seen immensely talented sportspersons lose the plot because of their lack of hard work and their poor attitude.
But these four superstars have used their talent in the best manner possible and sharpened that talent with immense hard work. They have had the insatiable hunger to do well and that has helped them overcome all the obstacles in their path.
Kohli and Ronaldo both had immense passion which enabled them to work their way to the top. They both love to work hard on their skills and that really paved the way toward their immense success.
Kohli has worked extensively on his batting and fitness to become the player he is now. There was never a doubt about his consistency, but if someone follows his career graph closely, one can see that the man has gone from strength to strength.
The case with Ronaldo is almost same as after joining Real Madrid in 2010, the man outdid himself and other rivals in terms of records year after year. From his Manchester United days, he has been known as a hard worker and he has certainly reaped the benefits of his effort.
Messi and De Villiers are incredible talents and they seem to have been born with that special something. It’s difficult to perfect the outrageous strokes which AB unfurls unless someone practises them day in day out. De Villiers himself admitted that he prefers to keep a clear head and that he is a firm believer of following his instincts.
The Argentinian too perfected his free-kick and passing skills by practising day in day out, and now reaps the benefits of that. A team player to the core, the left-footed genius creates magic with his moves and leaves an indelible impression on every mind.
4) Transformation of the players
All these players made their debuts at a very young age and over the years, they transformed to become greats of the game. Now they carry their teams on their own shoulders and set examples for others with their inspirational performances.
Kohli rose to fame in 2008 when he led the Indian Under-19 squad to the World Cup. He made his debut for the senior team a year later and never looked back from that. At the beginning, the young man was overshadowed by superstars like Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag who were the prominent members of the Indian squad then.
Kohli was even was part of the squad which lifted the World Cup after 28 years in 2011, but his leap to greatness started a year later as he started to win matches for India. The batsman showed great maturity to become one of the key members of the squad.
Ronaldo too started at a young age and was part of the Portugal squad which lost the Euro final to Greece in 2004. He showed promise in his initial years and the he started blossoming into a great player from the year 2006.
The current Real Madrid star single-handedly took Manchester United to unprecedented heights and he continued that trend for Real Madrid too. He inspired his national side to the Euro semis in 2012 and he was instrumental in helping them qualify for the World Cup in 2014.
Messi made his debut for Barcelona and Argentina in 2004 and 2005 respectively and he showed glimpses of his class in his early years. He kept improving season after season and soon became the leader and the best player in the squad with his exceptional performances. His form with the national team improved as well as he scored some crucial goals for Argentina.
AB too started his career at the age of 20 and went on to make rapid strides in international cricket. He soon became the star player for South Africa and is now captain of the team.
The transformation from being talented youngsters to phenomenal legends has been utterly smooth for the quartet.
5) Nature
While we all know about Kohli’s aggressive nature, he is someone who doesn’t hold back from expressing himself. The Indian is a person who wears his heart on his sleeve and plays the game with immense passion. He backs his no-nonsense attitude with stellar on-field performances and in this aspect he can be compared with the charismatic Portuguese.
Ronaldo also doesn’t hold back from expressing his thoughts, and his passion for the game is unquestionable. Their fans love their ostentatious nature and the stars keep the faith by churning out exemplary performances one after the another. So an aggressive Virat Kohli and an expressive Cristiano Ronaldo nature-wise have lots of similarities nature-wise.
On the other hand, the South African De Villiers is someone who doesn’t like to express much and does his job in a quiet manner. He is someone who prefers to keep a low profile but with his unbelievable talent he has won the hearts of millions.
Messi, too, isn’t known to show emotions, and he has a calm demeanour which is adored by fans all over the world. AB and Messi both are exceptional performers and they are revered for their attitude too.
All these four guys are tremendous athletes and their passion for winning is remarkable. But nature-wise too the four have something in common.
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