Who is better, de Villiers or Saqlain?
Saqlain Mushtaq leads with a GOAT score of 84.8 against 84.7 for AB de Villiers — a gap of 0.1 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Saqlain Mushtaq above AB de Villiers: 84.8 vs 84.7. Saqlain Mushtaq leads on Dominance, Peak, Honours. AB de Villiers leads on Longevity.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →Saqlain wins: Dominance, Peak, Honours
de Villiers wins: Longevity
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Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Saqlain leads in 4 of 5 weighted categories.
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇿🇦 de Villiers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 135 | 435 |
| 🇵🇰 Saqlain | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 180 | 328 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 year periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | de VilliersRetired | SaqlainRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Test runs | 8,765 | — |
| ODI runs | 9,577 | — |
| ODI average | 53.5 | — |
| Fastest ODI century (balls) | 31 | — |
| ICC Player of the Year | 1 | — |
| Test centuries | 22 | — |
| Test wickets | — | 208 |
| ODI wickets | — | 288 |
| Fastest to 100 ODI wickets (matches) | — | 53 |
| Five-wicket hauls | — | 13 |
| Tests played | — | 49 |
| Dominance w25% | 82 | 84 |
| Peak w20% | 92 | 94 |
| Longevity w20% | 82 | 76 |
| Honours w20% | 78 | 80 |
| Statistics w15% | 92 | 92 |
Saqlain Mushtaq leads with a GOAT score of 84.8 against 84.7 for AB de Villiers — a gap of 0.1 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
de Villiers scores higher on longevity. Saqlain leads on peak, dominance, honours.
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. de Villiers: 84.7, Saqlain: 84.8.
Make your case for de Villiers vs Saqlain. The scoring is published in full — if you can point at the pillar or the weight you disagree with, we read it. Read the methodology paper.