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Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers has named former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Asif among the top five cricketers he faced during his international career.
During a recent podcast appearance, the former South African captain was asked to reveal the top five best cricketers he played with or against during his career.
De Villiers listed his compatriot Jacques Kallis, England’s Andrew Flintoff, Australia’s Shane Warne, India’s Sachin Tendulkar, and Asif as the players who made the deepest impression on him during his career.
Surprisingly, the list did not include his long-time teammate and close friend, Virat Kohli, from the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
When reminded by England spinner Adil Rashid about not including Kohli, de Villiers admitted the omission but explained why Tendulkar edged out India’s modern-day great.
“Kallis, Flintoff, Mohammad Asif, Warne, and Sachin with the crowds,” he said.
“The way he (Sachin) 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.”
The former Proteas batter, regarded as one of the most innovative players of his era, also elaborated on why these names stood out.
“Kallis is probably the greatest all-rounder, if not the greatest cricketer of all time. Asif was the best seamer I ever faced,” he added.
“Warne, I loved playing against him, not because he was easy but because of his presence, the floppy hat, zinc cream, the blonde hair, the aura.
“Flintoff was a big-match guy, and that yorker to Kallis at Edgbaston is still the best I’ve ever seen.”
AB De Villiers himself is celebrated as one of the finest batsmen of modern cricket, having scored over 20,000 international runs across formats at remarkable averages, 50.66 in 114 Tests and 53.50 in 228 ODIs.
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