The former South Africa captain, AB de Villiers, is busy playing for the South Africa Champions during the ongoing World Championship of Legends (WCL), where he was caught on the sidelines. Quite surprisingly, the former player denied Sachin Tendulkar’s name in calling his best three batters of all-time, who left the most impression.

He kept Jacques Kallis, Ricky Ponting, and Virat Kohli in the list. For once, perhaps by mistake, he put Brian Lara’s name before replacing the West Indies left-handed batter with Ponting. Kallis is the sixth leading run-getter in international cricket with 25534 runs, thanks to 62 centuries and 149 fifties.

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Ponting is fourth on the list with 27483 runs, having 71 centuries and 146 half-centuries. Kohli is at three with 27599 runs in 617 innings at an average of 52.27, notching up 82 centuries and 143 half-centuries. De Villiers has played with Kallis for a long time in the Proteas jersey, besides being part of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru under his partner in crime, Virat Kohli’s leadership.

Watch: Ab de Villiers picks his top 3 bowlers of all-time

Next up, the former Pretoria batter was asked to reveal his top three bowlers who left the most impression on him. And he started with the former Pakistan pacer, Mohammed Asif, who didn’t have a long career. The right-arm pacer had a brief, successful passage with his skills of seam and swinging the deliveries both ways.

.@ABdeVilliers17 reveals the batters and bowlers who stood out to him, the names that left a lasting impression. 👏#WCL2025 👉 18th July to 2nd August, Every Day Live on Star Sports Network pic.twitter.com/2jUrgNDXvO

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) July 26, 2025

De Villiers went with Dale Steyn and Glenn McGrath on the two other bowlers of the list. Steyn’s international career was cut short due to several injuries towards the fag end of his career as he finished with 699 wickets in 342 international innings at an average of 23.37. McGrath, on the other hand, is the fifth leading wicket-taker with 949 international scalps.

De Villiers has been in top-notch form during the WCL 2025. He smashed a fine unbeaten half-century against India in Northampton to help his side gain a huge victory before celebrating the first century of the tournament’s history in just 41 balls, opening the batting against the England champions. He hopes to keep the form going for the remainder of the tournament.