AB de Villiers picks his top 5 Test cricketers; two Indians & a Pakistani included

Former South African dashing batter AB de Villiers was asked to pick the top 5 Test cricketers he played the longest format of the game against in the podcast named Beard Before Cricket, hosted by English cricketers Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid.

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While AB initially hated to answer the question, he went on to name the former South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis, former English all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Asif, and former Australian legendary spinner late Shane Warne.

For his fifth pick, AB de Villiers went ahead with the former legendary Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar. Adil Rashid was quick to remind AB about missing his former RCB teammate Virat Kohli’s name. Later, AB was quick to take Kohli’s name as his sixth option.

"Kallis, Flintoff, Mohammad Asif, Warne. Sachin with the crowds. Just the way he was acknowledged while walking out to bat. It was like a standstill moment. Beautiful the way he batted. Virat. Sorry. Sachin-Virat. That's why it's difficult to answer such questions," AB de Villiers said on the Beard Before Wicket podcast.

Furthermore, AB was asked to pick a few players who would be a part of his World XI side. He went ahead with Sachin Tendulkar as captain and opener in his XI, while he picked the likes of Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis, Shane Warne, and Glenn McGrath.

"It's a tough one that. I hate that question. Someone put me on the spot and I think I said Graeme Smith, Ricky Ponting. The next minute the headlines in India were AB doesn't pick Sachin in his World XI. I'm like oh my gosh! You just rush through it. You have to be specific with the formats. Very difficult also to compare generations," he added.

"I'll have a fair idea of Sachin as captain, opening the batting. I'll be going back to my heroes, the Haydens, Pontings, Lara's, those guys. Kallis. Kallis would be my first pick. Best all-rounder of all time. Maybe even best cricketer of all time. It's arguable. Bowlers, you can have a lot of fun with. Warnes, McGraths. It's a tough one," he concluded.

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