&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Blind ranking ODI batters makes RCB hero a villain, who rates himself better than Sachin Tendulkar")
Blind ranking anything can be costly and make headlines, and although it didn’t cost anyone a thing here, it did raise a few eyebrows. AB de Villiers, a former South Africa captain and RCB veteran (in the IPL), recently made it to the top spot on all publications for placing himself ahead of One-Day giant and batting God Sachin Tendulkar, the highest run-scorer in the 50-over format. He also named three Indian captains among the top ten (he picked), which also included two Australians, a fellow South African and one each from Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
De Villiers was a great batter, perhaps the most gifted and unique known to this game, and even though he broke several batting records during his time as an international player, he failed to put his hands on an ICC trophy, having come agonisingly close during the 2014 T20 WC and 2015 ODI WC. As a batter, he also accomplished feats that look unlikely to be broken, with the record of the fastest ODI hundred (in 31 balls) and 150 (64 balls) belonging to him.
Meanwhile, appearing on Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali’s ‘Beard Before Wicket’ podcast, De Villiers took on a challenge to blind rank the ten ODI batters, with a stipulation that was to consider the post-2000 versions of all mentioned batters.
The English duo started with a bang, mentioning Sachin’s name to begin the proceedings. Although Tendulkar realised his dream of winning an ODI World Cup in 2011, his best years as a batter came between 1990 and 2000, with De Villiers also considering this factor before placing him fourth on the list and saying, “Here we go again, I see the headlines already. If I go 9, I’m in trouble.”
De Villiers, however, did a bit of justice to his list by placing Virat Kohli at the top, followed by him and Ricky Ponting at the third spot. He put his countryman Hashim Amla below Sachin, with Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni following him. Meanwhile, Kumar Sangakkara, Babar Azam and David Warner filled the last three places, with the Protean legend saying, “Not a bad list,” after wrapping up the rankings.
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Watch Video –
Here is AB de Villiers’ full blind ranking of ODI batters post-2000 -
- Virat Kohli
- AB de Villiers
- Ricky Ponting
- Sachin Tendulkar
- Hashim Amla
- Rohit Sharma
- MS Dhoni
- Kumar Sangakkara
- Babar Azam
- David Warner
