Overseas Specialists: 10 batsmen who performed better overseas in Test cricket
Test cricket is the most difficult non-combat sport in the world, and a big reason for that is the time and perseverance required to prevail. It is a sport that is played over a period of five days, and at times, there is not even a result to show for it.
In the fast-paced world of the 21st century, Test cricket sticks out, and it just adds to its wonderful charm. The most enticing bit about Test cricket is the variety in the playing field. There are only a handful of countries that play the sport, but the conditions are vastly different in every single one of them,
There is exaggerated seam movement in South Africa whereas conquering the bounce in Australia is a conundrum only a select few have been able to solve. Batting first in England is the toughest job in the sport, and if you are not batting first in India, you may as well forfeit the match there only.
Batsmen are the mollycoddled lot in modern day cricket and are often judged quite harshly for it. There are a bucket load of reasons used to disparage modern day batsmen, while some of those reasons are fair, a lot of them are fairly ridiculous.
Performing well in home conditions may earn a batsman some brownie points, but his legacy will be shaped by how well he does in difficult conditions, which are mostly away from home. It is a little harsh, but it is how things roll these days.
Brian Lara and Ricky Ponting are two of the greatest batsmen to have ever played the sport. Both of them perform significantly better when playing in their home conditions. It is not a slight on them, but a mere acknowledgment that performing better in overseas conditions is a humongous task. The revered Big Four of Kohli, Williamson, Root, and Smith, all perform better in their own backyard.
It can, therefore, be said as a rule of thumb that batsmen perform better when playing in their home conditions. But, if there are rules, there exist certain exceptions to it as well.
Take a look at 10 batsmen who perform significantly better when playing away from home. Some of these batsmen stink up at home whereas the others are magnificent when at home, or away from it. Surprisingly enough, two of these batsmen are currently active, and two have recently called it quits (Minimum Qualification: 3000 Test runs).
(10) Ab de Villiers (South Africa)
Home- Matches: 66, Runs: 4788, Average: 47.41, Highest: 163, 100/50: 13/28.
Away- Matches: 48, Runs: 3977, Average: 55.24, Highest: 278*, 100/50: 9/18.
Average Difference: 7.83.
Ab de Villiers has become one of the most polarizing cricketers in recent times thanks to his non-committal to Test match cricket, and subsequent retirement. De Villiers was one of the youngest batsmen to score 6000 Test runs, that he finished with less than 10000 Test runs speaks volumes about how the latter part of his career unfolded.
It is easy to describe De Villiers as just an ODI great and dismiss his Test career, but what saves the day for ABD in Test cricket is his performance away from home.
De Villiers played 66 Test matches in South Africa, scoring 4788 runs at an average of 47.41. Those are impressive numbers considering the conditions in South Africa, and that De Villiers opened during the early part of his career.
Away from home, ABD scored 3977 runs at a fantastic average of 55.24. De Villiers was at his best in West Indies and UAE where he averaged 87.78 and 116.20. 5 of De Villiers' 9 overseas came in these countries including his highest score of 278*.
De Villiers was brilliant in England as well, scoring 545 runs at an average of 54.5. He scored his first double hundred in India and ended with 630 runs at an average of 45 in the country. His performance in the 2015 series against India remains one of the greatest of the 21st century.
He did exceptionally well in Australia as well where he scored 671 runs at an average of 44.73. His hundreds at Perth in 2008 and 2012 were instrumental in shaping the series for South Africa. De Villiers averaged in excess of 40 in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand as well, but failed to score a hundred 100 there. He scored 687 runs at an average of 43 in the three countries with 6 half-centuries.