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AB de Villiers' remarkable innings last Sunday only confirmed what I have thought for at least a year: He's the best cricketer in the world in all three forms of the game.
Sure, claims can be made for fellow keeper-batsman Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakarra, Indian talisman Virat Kohli and our own Michael Clarke but de Villiers stands behind only Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar as the best I have played with or against.
I rate Ponting the best batsman of the modern era, but with de Villiers only 30, there's time for that pecking order to change.
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The SA skipper's record-breaking one-day international knock of 149 off 44 balls at Johannesburg's "Bull Ring" against a powerless West Indies attack proved just what a nightmare he is to captain against.
Wherever you put the fielders he will hit it where they aren't. You can plan to bowl wide yorkers and have fielders protecting the off side and he's good enough to manipulate the field. That takes a lot of talent and skill.
AB de Villiers smashed the fastest ever one-day century off just 31 balls. Source: Getty Images
Marry that talent with a great cricket brain — he assesses the game brilliantly — and you have the complete package. AB can play any role the team needs.
I recall the 2012 drawn Adelaide Test when he helped Faf du Plessis (110 not out) deny us what seemed a certain final day win. The pair batted for time and we couldn't get through their defences. De Villiers spent a touch over four hours at the crease in soaking up 220 deliveries for his boundary-less 33 runs.
Less than three years earlier at Cape Town I witnessed him become only the third batsman in Test crickets to hit four consecutive sixes (sorry Andrew McDonald) as the Proteas chased a declaration in an eventual innings victory over Australia.
When I first started playing against him our plan was try and get him out early bowled or LBW but as his mental strength has developed it's became a case of keeping it tight and hoping he makes a mistake.
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There's no question de Villiers' new record for the fastest ODI ton (31 balls) can be broken at this World Cup and the batsman most likely to do it is him, given the right conditions and situation.
Despite de Villiers blitzkrieg and Rohit Sharma's record-high ODI score of 264 in November, I still think the one-day game is a fair contest between bat and ball. Innings such as these are anomalies.
I agree the flatter pitches, fast outfields, fielding restrictions and bigger bats have aided batsman, while the introduction of Twenty20 has widened their range of strokes. The shots de Villiers was hitting off the Windies quicks into The Wanderers' stands last Sunday you would not have seen 10 years ago.
But the bowlers too have developed new skills, such as the slow bouncer and wide yorker.
Unfortunately if they just miss the batsmen are that good now they can smack them out of the park, as de Villiers showed last Sunday.
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