"I sort of looked up to him" - AB de Villiers' huge statement on Virat Kohli-Sachin Tendulkar comparisons amid WCL 2025

Amid the recently concluded World Championship of Legends (WCL) 2025, former South African batter AB de Villiers gave his stance on the comparison between Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar. He appeared on Shubhankar Mishra's podcast, where he opened up on the comparison of the two greats.

AB De Villiers reckoned that players from different generations cannot be compared. He hailed both Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar as outstanding cricketers of their respective eras. The former batter added that he looked up to Sachin, while Virat is his friend.

"You can't compare different generations. Impossible to compare. Both were outstanding in their generation, during their era. I have a lot of respect for Sachin. Down to earth and I sort of looked up to him. Virat is more of my friend," he said. (23:40)

Between the two, he picked Virat as an all-format great and chose Sachin for the longer format.

"I think Virat was an all format greater player, Sachin maybe in the longer format," he added.

His former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) teammate scored 9230 Test runs with 30 hundreds, 4188 T20Is runs with a century and 38 fifties, and has 14181 ODI runs so far with 51 tons. On the other hand, Sachin Tendulkar amassed 15921 runs from 200 Tests at an average of 53.78 with 51 hundreds.

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AB De Villiers opens up on bond with Virat Kohli

In the same conversation, AB De Villiers also opened up on his bond with Virat Kohli. The two share a strong friendship, which is quite evident. They have played a lot of cricket and spent a lot of time together at RCB.

Virat has been a part of the franchise since the inaugural edition in 2008, while De Villiers joined in 2011. He ended his IPL career in 2021, retiring with RCB.

The former South African reckoned they bonded because of a similar style of playing and approach towards the game. He added that they have had a great understanding and expressed pleasure in knowing him off the field as well.

"I think Virat and I just understand each other. We play the game in a similar kind of way. We both are incredibly competitive. We love winning and giving our best shot out there. We've always had this kind of understanding. We never had to speak to each other at the crease, never had to call. It was an absolute privilege to have shared the dressing room with him for many many years. But the cherry on the cake is getting to know him as a person, off the field and understanding his personality and life a bit better," he reflected. (17:35)

Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers have shared some of the greatest partnerships in the IPL. They scored 3123 partnership runs from 76 matches at an average of 43.98 with ten hundred-plus stands and a highest partnership of 229.