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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.

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