Former South Africa stalwart AB de Villiers as picked India and Pakistan among his four favourites for the upcoming ICC World Cup in England.

The 35-year-old will not be pulling on the Proteas jersey in the World Cup this time after announcing his shock retirement from international cricket last year.

While de Villiers believes South Africa will be dark horses for the competition, he has opted to go with England, India, Australia and Pakistan as his four favourites in the World Cup.

“The World Cup is a tough tournament. I have played in three of them and it’s never easy. You always feel like you’ve got a good squad, but once the tournament starts you very quickly understand that there are a lot of teams that are there to win it and have the ability to do so,” de Villiers told Sport24.

“I do believe South Africa have a chance, like we did at any other World Cup, because we are a world-class team with plenty of match-winners. The Proteas are certainly in the running, but I won’t say they are the favourites to be honest with you.

India and Pakistan have ABD’s stamp of approval.

“India and England are looking strong, Australia have won five World Cups in the past and Pakistan claimed the Champions Trophy in the UK two years ago. Those four teams are probably the favourites.”

The South African will now link up with Virat Kohli in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Royal Challengers Bangalore and is looking forward to playing alongside the India stalwart.

“Virat’s performances over the last while have been incredible and I can’t see it stopping very soon. I have played with him for eight years now in the IPL and you can never take the class out of the guy,” he said.

“I see lots of similarities between myself and Virat. We are both fighters and don’t enjoy losing, we love batting together and taking the game away from teams.”

Royal Challengers Bangalore open their IPL campaign on March 23 against defending champions Chennai Super Kings.