'AB de Villiers is still better...': Dale Steyn insults Jos Buttler, Nicholas Pooran & other IPL internationals
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Former South Africa and RCB batter AB de Villiers has been lauded as better than several internationals who are currently part of the IPL by former South Africa teammate Dale Steyn.
AB de Villiers has once again emerged as a major topic of discussion on social media as well as between his former teammates, who to date cite him as one of the greatest ever batters. His sudden emergence has been due to his unstoppable dominance in the World Championship of Legends.
In a recent appearance on a podcast, AB de Villiers revealed several aspects of his life, including the bowler he once feared the most and the best 11 in the history of the IPL. Now Dale Steyn has made a further audacious claim on the former batter.
Dale Steyn hails AB de Villiers over recent internationals in the IPL
South African former paceman Dale Steyn, who was once claimed as one of the greatest bowlers in modern cricket, has now retired from the game. He has played for years in the IPL and has also shared the same dressing room alongside de Villiers in the South African side, as well as the RCB side.
He has commented that the 41-year-old AB de Villiers is still better than many other Indian as well as international players who are currently part of the IPL. AB de Villiers last played in the IPL back in 2021 for RCB and announced his retirement just at the age of 37, when he was still in fine form, scoring a lot of runs with the bat and showing stunning agility on the field.
This can be called a popular statement since many cricket fans have believed it as well, while some have opposed the decision.
Unpopular/Popular opinion.
— Dale Steyn (@DaleSteyn62) August 3, 2025
Ab is still better than half the internationals at IPL. Maybe even more.
AB de Villiers played a massive role in South Africa Champions maiden WCL title
The South African Champions looked considerably exceptional against all their opposition in this edition of the World Championship of Legends. All of this has been due to the participation of greats like Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, and AB de Villiers.
For the South African Champions, AB de Villiers has mostly opened the innings in the 6 matches he has played for them. The batter was way ahead of his fellow cricketers in scoring 429 runs in the competition, while no other batter has even scored 200 runs.
He averaged stunningly while having a strike rate over 200 and went on to score 3 hundreds, alongside a fifty. One of his hundreds came in the WCL final, when his team chased down a big 196 with 19 balls and 9 wickets remaining. South Africa Champions won the second edition of the WCL.
ABD mentioned his all-time Best IPL XI
The legendary RCB batsman was asked by Shubhankar Mishra to pick his all-time Best 11 in the IPL. He decided to pick several RCB and MI players, while some players were picked from CSK as well.
He picked the likes of MI former skipper Rohit Sharma, CSK opener Matthew Hayden, RCB veteran Virat Kohli, MI great Suryakumar Yadav, himself (ABD), MI all-rounder Hardik Pandya, and CSK legend MS Dhoni.
He named the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Lasith Malinga as the two MI pacers while naming two former RCB teammates, Yuzvendra Chahal and Daniel Vettori, as the spinners in the side.
He was a witness to the RCB winning their maiden title in IPL 2025, as he witnessed it from the stands and then joined the team for the celebrations.
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Tagged:
Dale Steyn AB de Villiers IPL Royal Challengers Bangalore South Africa Champions World Championship of Legends South Africa National Cricket Team
