Australian spinner Nathan Lyon has on Wednesday, 1st May, picked AB De Villiers over Virat Kohli as the hardest hitter of the all-time in the game of cricket, saying the South African superstar is still one of the best players in the cricket world.
De Villiers, who was branded for his 360-degree hitting ability, called time on his 13-year South Africa career in May 2018 having revolutionized white-ball batting at the same time maintaining exceptional standards in the Test cricket. The 35-year-old right-hander finished his international career with One Day average of 53.50 from 228 ODIs, while a Test average of 50.66 from 114 games.
Even after his retirement from the international arena, De Villiers is still a hot property in global franchise leagues, as he is currently in sublime form with the bat in the ongoing IPL 2019, having hammered 441 runs at an average of 49 for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) so far.
And the Australia star said the South African legend is still one of the most daunting batters in world cricket and he would love to challenge himself against the Mr. 360.
Lyon told The BackPage Live, “It’s an interesting one when you’re up against that challenge, but I’ve always said I want to challenge myself against the best players in the world.”
He continued, “AB is still one of those guys. He is probably the hardest batter I’ve ever bowled to, and I’ve played against AB quite a few times now on different tours. He’s probably the one guy who I’ve thought: 'He can probably hit me anywhere he wants at any time.'”
While recalling the treatment given by De Villiers to the speed merchant and compatriot Mitchell Johnson, Lyon said the Proteas great has shown his beast mode to them while dispatching the ball into the stands wherever he liked to hit, regardless of the delivery.
Lyon signed off by saying, “There have been a couple of tours when Mitchell Johnson’s been bowling like the wind after a pretty amazing Ashes series here at home, and AB was pulling Mitch in front of square-leg and just back-footing drives and showing all the shots.”
(With The BackPage Live Inputs)
