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Cape Town – On the eve of their big Highveld send-off for the 2015 World Cup, South Africa’s captain and ace stroke-player AB de Villiers has had a rare tribute from Sir Viv Richards, one of the pioneers in truly flamboyant one-day international batting.
Richards, twice a CWC winner in 1975 (the inaugural tournament) and again in 1979 as well as a losing finalist in 1983, says he sees strong traces of himself in the way De Villiers – expected to be one of the big thrill factors in Australasia over the next few weeks – goes about his business at the crease.
Speaking on the website www.icc-cricket.com/cricket-world-cup-2015, the West Indies legend said: “Sometimes when I watch him, it seems like I am watching myself. He looks very comfortable at the crease.
“The shots he plays bring such joy, and not just to me. It is a joy to all cricket fans who are watching him the world over.
“I like his style and he is one player who is very hard to leave out of any ODI team.”
Richards has the Proteas skipper as his lone South African in a personal list of “10 ODI batsmen of all time I would pay to watch”.
The others are Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Chris Gayle, Clive Lloyd, Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Virender Sehwag, Mike Hussey and Virat Kohli.
Of the group, only De Villiers plus Gayle (West Indies) and Kohli (India) will feature in the latest edition of the World Cup.
*Follow our chief writer on Twitter: @RobHouwing
