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England legend picks Proteas duo in best ever XI

Cape Town - Former England all-rounder Paul Collingwood has named his best-ever cricket XI with former Proteas all-rounder Jacques Kallis and former batsman AB de Villiers selected.

Collingwood revealed his all-time XI on the Lord's Cricket YouTube channel, with the criteria being that he had to have played with or against them, or have been strongly influenced by the players mentioned.

The Englishman named the usual suspects, which included Brian Lara, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, who regularly make such lists.

Former Proteas legend Kallis slotted in at No 3 on the list and Collingwood hailed the 'consistent' Kallis.

"In my opinion, probably the best cricketer to have ever played the game... very consistent with the bat," said Collingwood.

Kallis, who retired from international cricket in 2014, played 166 Tests for South Africa scoring 13 289 runs and taking 292 wickets in the process.

Meanwhile, De Villiers came in Collingwood's middle-order, saying that the South African "can get hit 360 and completely take the game away from the opposition."

De Villiers, who retired from international cricket in 2018, played 114 Tests for the Proteas and scored 8 765 runs with an average of 50.66.

Collingwood retired from international cricket in 2011 and played 68 Tests, 197 ODIs and 36 T20Is for England.

He was part of England's 2005 winning Ashes team and captained his country to victory in the 2010 T20 Cricket World Cup.

The 43-year-old is currently the fielding coach of the England national team.

Paul Collingwood's all-time XI:

Virender Sehwag (India), Matthew Hayden (Australia), Jacques Kallis (South Africa), Sachin Tendulkar (India), Brian Lara (West Indies), AB de Villiers (South Africa), Adam Gilchrist (Australia - captain/wicketkeeper), Ben Stokes (England), Shane Warne (Australia), Wasim Akram (Pakistan), Glenn McGrath (Australia)

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