- By Namrata Vijay
- Mon, 01 Sep 2025 04:02 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Ex-South African cricketer AB de Villiers didn't include Virat Kohli in his list of the top five cricketers with whom he played or against during his illustrious career. De Villiers had faced lots of legendary cricketers in his 14-year old long career.
He was urged to make a list of the five best players during an interaction on a podcast, and he took the names of star all-rounder Jacques Kallis, Andrew Flintoff, Shane Warne, Sachin Tendulkar, and Mohammad Asif.
He was also seen apologising to Virat Kohli for not taking his name when Adil Rashid reminded him of the same.
“Kallis, Flintoff, Mohammad Asif, Warne, and Sachin with the crowds. The way he (Tendulkar) was received when he walked out to bat — everything would come to a standstill. Beautiful to watch him bat. Virat, sorry, Sachin. That’s why such questions are so tough to answer,” De Villiers was quoted as saying on the Beard before wicket podcast.
At the same time, he described Kallis as the best cricketer of all time and also talked about the yorker Andrew Flintoff had bowled to him.
"Kallis is the best all-rounder, or maybe the best cricketer of all time. Asif was the best seamer I ever faced. I loved playing against Warne, but I never faced difficulty. I liked his overall personality, the floppy hat, the zinc cream, and the blonde hair. Again, Andrew Flintoff was a big-match performer. That yorker to Kallis in Edgbaston is the best I have seen," he said.
De Villiers also played a huge role in helping South Africa lift the World Championship of Legends title. During the summit clash, he took the Pakistani bowlers to the cleaners by scoring his third hundred. South Africa chased the target of 195 runs quite comprehensively with nine wickets remaining.
He had scored 120 runs off 60 balls and was also assisted by JP Duminy. He had won the Player of the tournament award as he was the highest run-getter after scoring 429 runs by playing in six matches and at a staggering average of 143, which includes three centuries and one half-century.