Player of the decade (2010-2019)

[Mamoon]

Lol, don't make up opinions on your own.

I will tell you what exactly Kohli said during toss. He said that earlier SA were warming up with four pacers, so it looked as if SA would have gone with that ATG quartet of Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada and Morne Morkel on a pitch which had grass on day 1 and the conditions were equipped to bowling which eventually happened.

It's quite apparent that sub continental teams, who are generally not that equipped with batting on those SA conditions, would rather go for bowling first, more so when the attack as lethal as mentioned is warming up and are set to have a go.

Post #156.

 

[ManFan]

Virat Kohli.

No if’s, and’s, or but’s.

 

[Mobashir]

These numbers tell only a part of the story. De Villiers was more talented than Kohli but unfortunately he didn’t have half the guts and determination that Kohli has, and that is why Kohli will leave the game with a far, far greater legacy.

This thread is about the performances over this decade and not about the legacy both will leave.

Kohli is a more prolific Test batsman and scores hundreds at a far greater rate, clearly illustrating his superior temperament and appetite for scoring runs.

In ODIs, in the 2010s, De Villiers batted most of the time at number 4 and capitalized on the platform set by the top 3. On the contrary, Kohli took responsibility at number 3. This is why in spite of de Villiers’ fantastic form, his team could not take full advantage.

I, on purpose, wrote two different posts about test and ODI's for you to not mix everything. I will agree with two things you wrote about AB de Villiers in your post :
- AB de Villiers should have batted at 3 in ODI's
- AB's retirement drama's shouldn't have happen.
If these two things went right he could have been even greater. But here we should not talk about if and buts.

If AB de Villiers capitalized on the platform set by the top 3, you can say exactly the same thing that Kohli capitalized on the platform set by the top 2. So good were Indian openers in this decade.
And according to you, AB de Villiers had the not so good Amla in the top 3 where as Kohli has the "second best ODI opener of all time".

Had de Villiers batted at 3 in the 2015 World Cup which was his peak as an ODI batsman, South Africa would have definitely qualified for the final.

But as I said, de Villiers did not have the character of someone like Kohli. In the 2013 Champions Trophy semifinal when the ball was swinging around, he sent a bowling all-rounder like Peterson to bat at 3 because he wanted to protect himself from the swing. Funnily, he came onto bat when the conditions were easy for batting and he got a duck.

If we speak about ‘meaningful’ innings, then Kohli’s innings in the 2013 Champions Trophy is greater than any innings de Villiers has played in ODIs in this decade.

AB de Villiers indeed didn't won the 2015 world cup semi final to his team. But he helped them by playing wonderful cricket trough ought the world cup and even in the semi final he was taking the match away from NZ had it not rained.
Compare it to Kohli coming in at 3 and making 1 from 13 balls and hurting his team chances in the semi final. And this is not the only time, he did exactly the same in champions trophy final and world cup 19 semi final. In all those matches he hurts India's chance to win the game.

As far as the statement that de Villiers won his team the series against India in 2018, well he didn’t. He was outclassed by Kohli who scored more runs than him. Kohli was also the only batsman to score a hundred in that series which was by far the most bowling-friendly series in a very long time.

It was the only series in history where every single wicket fell, and the only reason South Africa won the series was that they won two tosses and opted to bat first twice. It was impossible to bat in the fourth innings on those pitches.

1st Test :
ABDV came in at 12/3 and counter attacked in superb fashion with a 65.
Kohli failed in both innings and especially in the second innings chasing 208.

2nd Test : Kohli scored a super 153 to keep his team in the game at the end of the first innings.
Both teams being on par, the second innings will decide the game.
AB de Villiers walk in at 3/2 and scores a superb 80 to rescue his team. Kohli has to just play as well as AB did, but as he doesn't have the nerve to chase in test cricket he again fails on 5.

3rd Test : Kohli batted brilliantly in both innings, and that's his best performance ever in Tests. AB failed in both. Unfortunately for him it often come when the series is already decided, in the not so important test. He should have brought his A game in the Tests that mattered the most.

AB de Villiers 2 - Kohli 1.
AB de villiers outplayed, outclassed out performed Kohli.

PS : In ODI's, ABDV's SR puts him in a category of his own in the decade. You just can't bat like this. He is by far the best ODI bat of the decade.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Tests Man of the Match and Man of the series

2010-2019 TESTS Man of the Matches



2010-2019 TESTs Man of the Series

 

[jnaveen1980]

2010-2019 ODI Man of the match list



2010-2019 ODI Man of the series list

 

[jnaveen1980]

2010-2019 T20 Man of the matches list



2010-2019 T20 Man of the series list

 

[Ab Fan]

These numbers tell only a part of the story. De Villiers was more talented than Kohli but unfortunately he didn’t have half the guts and determination that Kohli has, and that is why Kohli will leave the game with a far, far greater legacy.

Kohli is a more prolific Test batsman and scores hundreds at a far greater rate, clearly illustrating his superior temperament and appetite for scoring runs.

In ODIs, in the 2010s, De Villiers batted most of the time at number 4 and capitalized on the platform set by the top 3. On the contrary, Kohli took responsibility at number 3. This is why in spite of de Villiers’ fantastic form, his team could not take full advantage.

Had de Villiers batted at 3 in the 2015 World Cup which was his peak as an ODI batsman, South Africa would have definitely qualified for the final.

But as I said, de Villiers did not have the character of someone like Kohli. In the 2013 Champions Trophy semifinal when the ball was swinging around, he sent a bowling all-rounder like Peterson to bat at 3 because he wanted to protect himself from the swing. Funnily, he came onto bat when the conditions were easy for batting and he got a duck.

If we speak about ‘meaningful’ innings, then Kohli’s innings in the 2013 Champions Trophy is greater than any innings de Villiers has played in ODIs in this decade.

As far as the statement that de Villiers won his team the series against India in 2018, well he didn’t. He was outclassed by Kohli who scored more runs than him. Kohli was also the only batsman to score a hundred in that series which was by far the most bowling-friendly series in a very long time.

It was the only series in history where every single wicket fell, and the only reason South Africa won the series was that they won two tosses and opted to bat first twice. It was impossible to bat in the fourth innings on those pitches.

Kohli is a far greater player than de Villiers and history will remember him more than the man who played circus shots at the back end of the innings but ditched his team for franchise cricket at a time when they badly needed him.

Cricket is a game of character no matter how talented you are, and De Villiers is a great example.

No matter whichever way you put up and the numbe of times you say, it would always remain an absurd argument to make that de Villiers costed his team the WC semi by coming to bat at 5. Even with rain not being on their side, SA had managed to put up a match winning total on board. If rain won't have come up, de Villiers, Faf and Miller would have completely put NZ out of the game in the first inning itself. AB did his part brilliantly by scoring 65 of meagre 45 balls in first inning.

That lineup would have scored runs much faster than the total D/L came up with.

 

[Bilal7]

It's tough to name one because there hasn't been one standout throughout the decade so I'll break it down into two halves:

Pre-2015 batsmen:

1) Hashim Amla
2) AB de Villiers
3) Kumar Sangakkara

Pre-2015 bowlers:

1) Saeed Ajmal
2) Dale Steyn

Post-2015 batsmen:

1) Virat Kohli
2) Steven Smith
3) Kane Williamson

Post-2015 bowlers:

1) Mitchell Starc
2) Trent Boult
3) Kagiso Rabada

 

[The_Odd_One]

Virat Kohli would have been my choice had he not sucked so bad in two ODI world cups and a champions trophy. Overall the greatest batsman across all formats but you can’t be the player of the decade with no big trophy or series win.

Smith is the standout performer of this decade for me. Extraordinary in tests and performed in two ODI world cups.