Former South Africa batting great AB de Villiers has named Shoaib Akhtar as the toughest fast bowler he faced when judged purely on raw speed, placing the Pakistan pace legend above India's Jasprit Bumrah and Sri Lanka's Lasith Malinga.

De Villiers made the remarks when asked who was the hardest to face among Bumrah, Malinga and Akhtar. The South African was direct in his verdict on the Pakistan great.

"He was incredibly tough, miles faster than Bumrah, not even close. So from a pure pace point of view, it's definitely Akhtar," de Villiers said on the Prakhar Gupta Xperience Podcast.

How did de Villiers rate Bumrah and Malinga?

While de Villiers placed Akhtar first on sheer pace, he drew clear distinctions between all three bowlers based on when and how he encountered each of them during his career. De Villiers faced Bumrah towards the end of his playing days, when by his own admission he was no longer as agile as he had once been. Despite that, he acknowledged the quality of their contests. He also singled out Bumrah for a separate and significant compliment, naming him the most consistent of the three. That praise stood apart from the question of outright speed and reflected the quality of Bumrah's craft over a sustained period.

"And Bumrah, way more towards the back end of my career, when I was not as agile anymore, if anything. But we always had great battlenbs against each other. If I had to say most consistent, definitely Jasprit. I think he's just someone who didn't make a lot of mistakes," de Villiers said.

On Malinga, de Villiers noted that he faced the Sri Lankan at a stage when he was a more mature batter who understood his own technique better. Because of that, Malinga's completely different skill set never really troubled him too much.

What is the broader context of de Villiers's remarks?

The podcast discussion placed three of the most celebrated fast bowlers of the modern era side by side, with de Villiers offering a personal perspective shaped by the specific stages of his career at which he encountered each of them.

Shoaib Akhtar was the bowler de Villiers faced earliest, and that timing clearly shaped his verdict on pace. Akhtar is widely recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in cricket history, and de Villiers's comments align with that standing, though his assessment was framed entirely around his own experience at the crease.

Bumrah, by contrast, entered de Villiers's career at a later stage, yet still produced what de Villiers described as great battles. The praise for Bumrah's consistency stands as a distinct compliment, separate from the question of who was the quickest to face.