Whenever AB de Villiers speaks about batting, fans listen closely. This time, the South African legend has caused a storm online with his blind ranking of ODI batsmen since the year 2000.
What shocked people most was Virat Kohli taking the No. 1 spot, while Sachin Tendulkar, the ‘God of Cricket’, was placed at No. 4.
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How did AB de Villiers rank ODI legends?
In this fun ranking exercise, de Villiers listed down ten ODI batters from the 2000s era.
The twist was that he placed them without knowing the next name coming up, making it a blind order. By the end, the list looked quite surprising.
Here’s how de Villiers’ final blind ranking of ODI greats shaped up:
- Virat Kohli
- AB de Villiers
- Ricky Ponting
- Sachin Tendulkar
- Hashim Amla
- Rohit Sharma
- MS Dhoni
- Kumar Sangakkara
- Babar Azam
- David Warner
The biggest talking point was Sachin Tendulkar being pushed down to No. 4. For many fans, Sachin is the ultimate ODI player with his 18,000+ runs and 49 centuries.
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Kohli at the top also sparked debate. While he is widely regarded as the most consistent ODI batter of the modern era, some felt it was bold to place him above Sachin.
De Villiers himself was at No. 2, a move that many felt showed his confidence but also divided opinion among cricket lovers.