Virat Kohli vs AB de Villiers - comparing their records after 114 Tests

Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers are hailed as two of the greatest modern-day batters in world cricket, thanks to their inimitable ability to win matches. The duo also played with each other for over a decade at the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the IPL.

If batting in the 1990s and the 2000s was defined by Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara, the decade of the 2010s belonged to Kohli and De Villiers. While De Villiers finished his illustrious international career with over 20,000 runs and 47 centuries, Kohli is still going strong with over 27,000 runs and 81 tons.

The duo have captivated the cricketing universe with their versatility, consistency and astonishing game-changing knocks over the years. Yet, it would not be unfair to say that Kohli's and De Villiers' rise to fame has been largely built upon their white-ball and IPL exploits.

What often gets ignored is the pair's remarkable Test record, starting with them playing over 100 red-ball games - a feat in itself. While De Villiers retired after playing 114 Tests, Kohli is on 123 Tests and counting.

The several similarities in their numbers, along with the notable differences makes a comparison of the duo in Tests as intriguing as any.

On that note, to maintain a common denominator, let us deep dive into Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers' Test numbers after 114 matches and see who comes out on top.

Counting numbers

One must remember that Kohli and De Villiers did not necessarily perform similar roles for India and South Africa in Tests. While Kohli started his Test career in the lower middle-order before permanently moving to No. 4 and occasionally No. 3, De Villiers' journey was quite the opposite.

The former South African batter predominantly opened the batting in the initial stages of his Test career before moving down to No. 5 and 6 for a majority of his career since 2008.

Nevertheless, being middle-order batters for most of their Test careers means comparisons without too much contextualization would be fair.

With that said, let us look at the duo's overall counting numbers - runs, centuries and half-centuries after 114 Tests.

The overall numbers are as close as they come with Kohli holding a slender edge over De Villiers after 114 Tests each. Yet, when it comes to milestones, the duo have almost identical 50+ scores, but Kohli has gone on to convert them to three figures more often than his former RCB teammate.

However, it must be mentioned, Kohli batting a position or two higher than De Villiers for most of his Test career has played a small role in the higher number of centuries.

Impact numbers

While the counting numbers are undoubtedly important when comparing two players, it always ranks below the impact numbers in significance. The impact numbers include overall average and average, centuries and half-centuries in team victories.

Needless to say, both Kohli and De Villiers played massive roles in India and South Africa dominating Test cricket for most of their careers. Yet, who made a greater impact?

It is one-way traffic when it comes to impact numbers between Kohli and De Villiers after 114 Tests. While Kohli's overall average of 48.74 is nothing to sneeze about, it is slightly lower than De Villiers' 50.66.

A bigger gap arises between the duo when the impact of their runs on Team wins is analysed. The South African legend averages almost 13 runs more in victories than the former Indian captain.

Even the centuries and half-centuries are considerably higher for De Villiers than Kohli in team wins despite batting lower in the batting order.

Conditions-based numbers

Considering India and South Africa are polar opposites when it comes to pitches, just dissecting their home and away averages might not paint a clear picture of the duo's prowess across conditions. Instead, a better metric would be their averages in each the prominent Test-playing countries, including home, after 114 overall Tests.

For the sake of this exercise, we will consider India, South Africa, Australia, England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and the West Indies as the away conditions. Pakistan has been excluded since Kohli has never played a Test there and De Villiers has played only two.

Kohli vs De Villiers - conditions-wise breakdown

Kohli and De Villiers play to a near push when it comes to conditions-wise numbers after 114 Tests. While the champion Indian batter boasts better averages than De Villiers in India, South Africa, Australia and Sri Lanka, the latter holds a significant edge over Kohli in England, New Zealand and West Indies.

The impressive part of De Villiers' numbers are his 40+ averages in each of the seven prominent touring nations. Meanwhile, Kohli averages in the 30s in England and New Zealand - a far cry from his excellent numbers elsewhere.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Kohli-De Villiers battle after 114 Tests is as close as they come, with the duo boasting excellent numbers across categories. However, the former South African's evenly spread consistency across conditions and impact on team wins, combined with a slightly better overall average gives him a slender edge over King Kohli.

Winner: AB de Villiers by the barest of margins.