Sachin, Sehwag, Kohli in Richards' top-10 ODI batsmen of all time

Dubai, Feb 2: West Indies' legend Sir Vivian Richards has picked India's Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Virat Kohli in the list of his top-10 One Day International batsmen of all time.

ICC World Cup Special

With less than two weeks to go for ICC World Cup 2015, Richards revealed his top 10 ODI batsmen, on International Cricket Council's (ICC) website.

"Over the years we have had an abundance of batting talent. It is difficult to separate and put them in their rightful batting order, let alone pick out 10 names. So, irrespective of the order they are in, these are my top-10 ODI batsmen of all time," Richards began.

He continued, "The first name that comes to mind is Sachin Tendulkar. In a single word, I would describe him as a legend. The player he was until very recently, if ever there is a team picked without including him, it would be a great shame. He has always been one of my favourite batsmen and I would pay money to watch him bat. He wasn't the biggest in size amongst other cricketers of the world, but all good things come in small packages. And he was a fantastic batsman."

Richards rated Brian Lara same as Tendulkar and put him second in the list followed by two other West Indians - Chris Gayle and Clive Lloyd.

Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden and Sehwag followed and the top-10 was completed with Michael Hussey, AB de Villiers and Kohli.

"Another batsman in the Hayden mould, and at the top of the order, is Virender Sehwag. He relied on great hand-eye co-ordination and when he got going, he could demolish any bowling attack in the world in a matter of overs. He made batting look so easy, almost a walk in the park, and I can only think that it must have been so easy batting in the lower order after Sehwag had done his thing," he said of Sehwag.

On Kohli, he wrote, "The last name on my list, but not the least by any means, is young Virat Kohli. There might be some surprise regarding this pick because he is very young and has a lot of cricket to play still.

"At such a young age he has twice the number of ODI century than in Tests and he is such a confident player in limited-overs. It is not to say he isn't so in the longer format, but I really like his aggressive style in ODI cricket.

"Look at the way he started his career, and the batsman he has already become today, he is simply magnificent in whatever little time he has played as compared to others. He is only going to get better and better, and add to his list of achievements."

Here is Richards top-10 ODI batsmen of all time

1. Sachin Tendulkar (India)

2. Brian Lara (West Indies)

3. Chris Gayle (West Indies)

4. Clive Lloyd (West Indies)

5. Ricky Ponting (Australia)

6. Matthew Hayden (Australia)

7. Virender Sehwag (India)

8. Michael Hussey (Australia)

9. AB de Villiers (South Africa)

10. Virat Kohli (India)

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