Statistical comparison of Virat Kohli, Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers in ODIs

From left to right: AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli and Hashim Amla

In this decade, there have been some great batting talents in one-day internationals (ODIs). Some were consistent for a short period and then went out of form, while some were just consistent throughout.

The most consistent players of this decade have been the three batsmen – Virat Kohli from India, and Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers from South Africa. They all have an ODI average of over 50, they all score centuries more often than anyone else and they all frequently win matches for their team. So it’s not a surprise that the fans often discuss about who is the best among these three.

Kohli and Amla play in the top order whereas AB de Villiers smashes runs in the middle order. Before the World Cup begins, let us compare these three modern day batting greats in various aspects.

Comparison of batting averages

Criterion	Hashim Amla	Virat Kohli	AB de Villiers
Home	51.58	55.29	50.74
Away	59.22	47.88	58.91
Neutral	42.33	58.35	43.47
Away+Neutral	53.98	50.83	52.04
Against top 8 teams	50.88	50.37	52.78
Against other teams	64.25	101.42	51.00
In top 8 countries	57.78	41.48	53.81
In other countries	44.82	85.73	49.14
Since 2010	54.64	53.49	66.41
Won	67.98	69.35	63.41
Lost	30.90	33.33	34.50
Batting 1st	59.27	39.25	47.26
Batting 2nd	44.36	64.26	57.15
Overall	53.18	52.61	51.50

Averages are a good way to judge a player. Kohli has the highest average among the three at home, but Amla has the highest away from home. In neutral venues, Kohli leads but in neutral and away venues combined, Amla is the leader.

De Villiers has the best average among the three against the top eight teams, but against the other teams (excluding the top 8 teams) Kohli has a higher average. When playing at the home of the top 8 countries, Amla has the best average of the three, while Kohli averages higher in the matches away against the teams outside the top 8.

All these batsmen average above 60 in their teams’ winning cause; Kohli has a slightly better average in wins than the other two. All of them average below 35 in losing causes. While batting first, Amla has the highest average of the three, but when chasing a target Kohli is far ahead of the other two.

Since 2010, De Villiers has a higher average than Kohli and Amla.

Comparison of number of centuries and percentage of centuries

Criteria	Hashim Amla		Virat Kohli		AB de Villiers
	No. of 100s	% of 100s	No. of 100s	% of 100s	No. of 100s	% of 100s
Home	7	41.18	9	42.86	6	33.33
Away	8	47.06	9	42.86	8	44.44
Neutral	2	11.76	3	14.29	4	22.22
Away+Neutral	10	58.82	12	57.14	12	66.67
Against top 8 teams	12	70.59	17	80.95	14	77.78
Against other teams	5	29.41	4	19.05	4	22.22
In top 8 countries	8	47.06	6	28.57	9	50.00
In other countries	2	11.76	6	28.57	3	16.67
Since 2010	16	94.12	20	95.24	14	77.78
Won	15	88.24	19	90.48	15	83.33
Lost	2	11.76	2	9.52	2	11.11
Batting 1st	13	76.47	7	33.33	13	72.22
Batting 2nd	4	23.53	14	66.67	5	27.78
Overall	17	100.00	21	100.00	18	100.00

Most of the aspects are similar to the average comparisons in the previous table, but there are some deviations which can be easily inferred from the above table.

Number of innings batted to reach each milestone of runs

Milestone	Hashim Amla	Virat Kohli	AB de Villiers
1000	24	24	33
2000	40	53	62
3000	57	75	88
4000	81	93	105
5000	-	114	124
6000	-	136	147
7000	-	-	166
Overall	4946 runs in 100 innings	6208 runs in 138 innings	7210 runs in 169 innings

Kohli initially got near Vivian Richards’ records of reaching various milestones in the least number of innings, but Amla went on to overcome Richards’ records. He has been highly consistent and has reached each milestone in fewer innings. De Villiers wasn’t consistent in his initial matches but has been extremely good in the last four to five years.

Number of innings for each ODI century

Century #	Hashim Amla	Virat Kohli	AB de Villiers
1	9	13	37
2	24	17	50
3	27	32	51
4	29	33	88
5	30	43	91
6	34	61	92
7	41	63	93
8	43	68	99
9	52	79	100
10	57	80	111
11	64	82	112
12	81	83	120
13	83	86	121
14	84	103	131
15	86	106	147
16	94	110	153
17	98	112	156
18		119	159
19		124
20		133
21		138

Kohli broke all previous records of scoring centuries in the least number of innings, but Amla has now overcome Kohli’s records. De Villiers started scoring centuries on a consistent basis a little later than the other two.

Make your own decision based on the data provided.