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Legendary South Africa cricketer AB de Villiers has named the five best cricketers he has ever played with in Test cricket. The batter, who announced his retirement from international cricket in 2018, had featured in a total of 114 Tests after making his debut in the format back in 2004. The 31-year-old scored a total of 8765 runs in red-ball cricket, including 22 hundreds and 46 half-centuries.
After being asked by former England all-rounder Moeen Ali to pick the five best cricketers he played with in Tests, de Villiers didn't include neither Virat Kohli nor Rohit Sharma in his list. He instead picked his former teammate Jacques Kallis, Mohammad Asif, Andrew Flintoff, Shane Warne and the legendary Sachin Tendulkar.
“Kallis definitely. Flintoff, of course. I just remember… Mohammad Asif. Wow. Probably the best seamer 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 ball moved. Unbelievable," he added.
“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 further added.
During the show, England spinner Adil Rashid jokingly reminded de Villiers that he had missed out on including Virat on his list to which the latter replied, “Sorry, Virat. That’s why such questions are so tough to answer."
De Villiers on Dravid stepping down as RR head coach
Meanwhile, de Villiers had also shared his take on Rahul Dravid stepping down as Rajasthan Royals' head coach ahead of IPL 2026 and had stated that the latter was "sort of kicked out".
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"It sort of sounds to me like it was an owner or management kind of call. They gave him an option to have a broader role in the team. He sort of turned that down. Maybe he was upset because he really wanted to be still involved. He wanted to be in the dugout. Maybe it was his call. I don't know. We'll. I'm pretty sure we'll find out once we get him talking about it in the future. Maybe. But Rahul, obviously, is leaving big footsteps behind, big shoes to fill," de Villiers said on his YouTube channel.
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