Former South Africa batter AB de Villiers has chosen an India-heavy list for his top five ODI batters of all time. He selected former Australia captain Ricky Ponting and South Africa legend Jacques Kallis as the first two players.
De Villiers then included three Indian icons Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, and MS Dhoni to complete his top five. This trio played pivotal roles in India’s historic victory in the 2011 ODI World Cup.
Meanwhile, Ponting contributed significantly to Australia’s dominance in the ODI World Cup, winning three consecutive titles from 1999 to 2007, with Ponting captaining the side in the latter two. Kallis, the only player in De Villiers’ list without a World Cup title, played an instrumental role in South Africa’s solitary ICC victory in the 1998 Champions Trophy, where he scored a crucial century in the semifinal and took a five-wicket haul in the final.
Turning to their individual batting records, Tendulkar holds the record for the most runs in ODI history, with 18,426 runs from 463 matches. Kohli, De Villiers’ former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) teammate, is third on the list, having amassed 14,180 runs in 301 matches. Kohli also leads the way with the most ODI centuries, having scored 51. Ponting, just behind Kohli, ranks fourth with 13,704 runs in 375 games. Kallis and Dhoni occupy the eighth and twelfth spots with 11,579 and 10,773 runs, respectively.
AB de Villiers’ top five ODI batters of all time are:
Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Jacques Kallis, MS Dhoni
Looking ahead to the 2025 Champions Trophy, Kohli will aim to secure his third ICC ODI title. He already won his second in the 2013 Champions Trophy, where India triumphed. However, there have been a series of painful close calls in subsequent ODI World Cups, including a defeat in the 2017 Champions Trophy final to Pakistan.
Currently, Kohli is in outstanding form during the 2025 Champions Trophy, having scored 217 runs at an average of 72.33 and a strike rate of 83.14 from four matches.
