Two Indians featured in Australian legend Ricky Ponting’s list of the top five greatest-ever batters -- Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.

Ponting rated Brian Lara as the ‘most skillful’ one, while he picked two modern greats -- Joe Root and Kane Williamson – in his list.

Indian fans could be upset as neither Virat Kohli nor Rohit Sharma failed to make the cut. Interestingly, no Australians, including Steve Smith, found a place in the former captain-turned-pundit’s exclusive group either.

“Brian Lara was the most skilful batsman I played against and when I was captain, he gave me more sleepless nights than anybody," Ponting was quoted as saying by The Times.

“Sachin was technically as good as anyone I’ve seen, along with Rahul Dravid; I’d put Joe in there now as well, and Kane Williamson," he added.

While Root’s numbers are remarkable being the second-highest run-scorer in Tests, Ponting said someone like Ben Stokes is gauged more with big-game impact.

“Stokes is a hard one. Numbers don’t define him. It’s been about moments with him, he’s a situation player. When things get toughest he’s been at his best. When you’re talking about the greats, you’ve got to talk about impact on games," he added.

Ponting, separately, also hailed Jaques Kallis as the greatest cricketer he had seen.

The Australian great acknowledged Root’s transformation over the past five years. “What he’s done the past five years is extraordinary. Look at the numbers: he’s got 13,500 runs. I rank players on how long they can stay at the top of their powers. You can be a great player for 30 to 40 games but can you do it for 150 games? Joe probably wasn’t a great player for his first 100 games — he had 17 hundreds in 97 Tests — but he’s turned into a great player. He has got 21 hundreds in his past 60 games (before the Oval Test)," Ponting remarked.