AB de Villiers snubs Kohli from list of top 5 cricketers, picks Mohammad Asif

Legendary South Africa cricketer AB de Villiers skipped Virat Kohli’s name from the list of top five best cricketers he played with or against in his career. De Villiers played against several legends of the game during his 14-year illustrious career.

Recently, he was asked to list the five best players on a podcast and the Proteas star named legendary South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis, England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, legendary Australia leg spinner Shane Warne, India batter Sachin Tendulkar and Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif.

The South Africa star even apologised for ignoring Virat Kohli after Adil Rashid reminded him of the India star.

“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 said on the Beard Before Wicket podcast.

Furthermore, he hailed Kallis as the best cricketer of all time and recalled Andrew Flintoff’s famous yorker bowled to him at Edgbaston.

"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, the blonde hair. Again Andrew Flintoff, who was a big-match performer. That yorker to Kallis in Edgbaston is the best I have seen," he added.

Meanwhile, De Villiers recently played a key role in helping South Africa legends win the World Championship of Legends 2025. In the final, he put the Pakistani bowlers to the sword with his third century of the tournament. Needing 196 runs to win, the Proteas chased the target down in 16.5 overs with 9 wickets remaining.

De Villiers scored 120 off 60 balls and got support from JP Duminy as South Africa blew away Pakistan to claim the title. He was also adjudged Player of the Tournament for finishing as the highest run scorer of the event, accumulating 429 runs from six innings at an average of 143 with three hundreds and one fifty.