AB de Villiers names five best bowlers he has faced in his career

Former South Africa cricketer AB de Villiers made his debut in the Big Bash League in the match between Adelaide Strikers and Brisbane Heat on Tuesday.

Ahead of the match, AB be Villiers gave an interview to cricket.com.au, where he revealed the names of five best bowlers he has batted against in his career. The batsman started by naming legendary leg spinner Shane Warne and justified why he was an outstanding bowler.

“Obviously, Warnie (Warne), purely intimidation factor, I think he was a good bowler, but he wasn’t unplayable. I was felt comfortable and saw the ball nicely, felt good on the bat, but between him and Gilly (Adam Gilchrist) behind the stumps, it was really intimidating for a 22-year-old to find his feet,” said De Villiers.

Another bowler the South African picked was England’s Stuart Broad whom he found difficult to play.

“I think Broady, Stuart Broad. Broad has come to the party in the last five years. I didn’t rate him early on, but he’s become a really good bowler. He’s sort of got my number over the last couple of series we’ve played. I’ve had these numbers a few times as well, so it’s not just the one-sided thing luckily,” said De Villiers.

Other than these two, the 35-year-old picked Pakistan’s Mohammad Asif, along with the duo of Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins from Australia.

“Some seam bowlers, Mohammad Asif from Pakistan, he’s very similar to Hazlewood once again, and Hazlewood also makes in the list and Pat Cummins as well.”

De Villiers featured in 114 Tests, 228 ODIs for South Africa, in which he amassed 8765 and 9577 runs, respectively. He averaged 50-plus in both the formats.

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