AB de Villiers More Versatile Than Chris Gayle: Brian Lara

Brian Lara, the Prince of Cricket, rated AB de Villiers as a better international batsman than Chris Gayle. South African De Villiers has been in stunning form in World Cup 2015 as he confirmed his status as the most destructive batsman in cricket with a magnificent unbeaten 162 from just 66 balls to lead South Africa to a record 257-run victory over West Indies in Sydney on Friday.

In an exclusive chat with NDTV, Lara paid rich tribute to De Villiers, who continued his one-man mission to redefine limited overs batting with the quickest century in one-day internationals on Australian soil (52 balls) and the fastest 150 ever in the 50-over format (64 balls).(De Villiers Powers South Africa to 408/5)

Utilising his full repertoire of strokes in an awesome display of batting, he flogged the West Indies bowlers with eight sixes and 17 fours in a 104-minute knock that will live long in the memory. His last 50 runs came off just 12 balls and brought the 23,612 crowd at a sun-bathed Sydney Cricket Ground to their feet chanting "AB!, AB!, AB!".(De Villiers Subjects West Indies to Huge Defeat)

Lara is also chanting "AB! AB! AB!". "He is up there among the best ODI batsmen I have ever seen and just for his sheer consistency, I will rate De Villiers higher than Gayle," said Lara, adding: "He can score against all attacks and that's brilliant".(Maxwell Hails de Villiers as a Class Apart)

Gayle, who struck the first double century in a World Cup against Zimbabwe in Canberra on Tuesday, continued to be inconsistent in an important game. Caribbean hopes of any kind of riposte to the carnage wrought by de Villiers rested largely in the hands of Gayle, who had contributed to his side's good start by taking two wickets in the 30th over to reduce South Africa to 146-3.

The 35-year-old Jamaican opener had faced just three balls, however, when Gayle took a huge swing at a Kyle Abbott delivery and lost his leg stump. The West Indies soon looked like the demoralised rabble that lost their tournament opener to Ireland with only Dwayne Smith (31), Denesh Ramdin (22) and Holder (56), with his maiden ODI half century, offering more than token resistance.

"It is very very disappointing to see West Indies play like this. All credit to De Villiers...I am in shock with the kind of innings he played," said Lara, who said Vivian Richards, would be the No. 1 destructive batsman in his book.

Sunil Gavaskar, like the Sydney fans, was also in awe of De Villiers. "Why call him AB? He should be A,B,C,D,E...he can do anything with the bat in ODI cricket," Gavaskar said to NDTV.

(With agency inputs)