Virat Kohli snubbed as AB de Villiers names his five best cricketers

AB de Villiers chose the list on the podcast featuring Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali.

When asked by former England spin bowling all-rounder Moeen Ali to name the five best players he has played with in test cricket, legendary South African cricketer and former captain AB de Villiers overlooked Virat Kohli.

AB de Villiers appeared on the Beard Before Wicket podcast, also featuring Adil Rashid. De Villiers, who retired from international cricket in 2018 after playing 114 ODIs, 228 ODIs, and 78 T20Is, included one cricketer each from England, India, South Africa, Australia, and Pakistan in his list of five best cricketers he played with and against in test cricket.

De Villiers considers his former South African teammate Jacques Kallis to be the greatest all-rounder of all time, while former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Asif is the best bowler he has faced.

“Kallis definitely. Flintoff, of course. I just remember… Mohammad Asif. Wow. Probably the best swimmer I’ve ever faced in my life. Warnie (Shane Warne)—I loved playing against him. I don’t think Warnie was the best bowler I faced, but just the whole package. The way he looked at me, the way he flicked his hair, the way the ball came out—it was just like it was art. Poetry in a way,” De Villiers said on the Beard Before Wicket Podcast.

“So, Kallis, Warne, Asif, and Flintoff definitely. Just the big match moments. I remember Edgbaston, him bowling to Kallis. That was probably the best yorker I have ever seen in my life. The way that the ball moved. Unbelievable,” he added.

“Sorry, Virat,” AB de Villiers says as he left out his best friend from the five best cricketers list

The discussion then turned to batters, and AB de Villiers picked none other than the master blaster, Sachin Tendulkar.

Tendulkar holds the record for most runs in both test and ODIs and has scored 100 international centuries. In 200 tests, Tendulkar has 15921 runs from 1989 to 2013. He hit a record 51 centuries and 68 fifties at an average of 53.78 and has the best score of 248*.

De Villiers said that he was in awe of how the crowd reacted to Sachin Tendulkar coming out to bat.

“Tough to pick another one. Just Sachin (Tendulkar) with the crowd, I would say. The way he was acknowledged walking out to bat. It was like a standstill moment. But beautiful the way he batted,” he added.

Then Adil Rashid reminded De Villiers about missing the name of Virat Kohli, and the ex-South African skipper said, “Sorry, Virat. That’s why such questions are so tough to answer.”

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