Johnson names his toughest opponent

Retired Test speedster Mitchell Johnson saw the rise of a new generation in batting talent in the latter years of his decorated career, however he says one man stood above that crop when it comes to the best he bowled to.

Australia's Steve Smith, India's Virat Kohli, new Kiwi Kane Williamson and Joe Root are the twenty-something talents who have set the cricket world alight in the past couple of years particularly, dominating for their respective countries with sheer weight of runs.

Smith, Root and Williamson are one, two and three respectively in Test cricket's batting rankings, while Kohli is the master of the limited-overs formats, ranked first in both T20 and ODI cricket.

But Johnson believes South Africa superstar AB de Villiers tops the lot.

"'Smithy' was always hard work in the nets. I never really got to play against him, maybe one or two games. At the WACA bowling against him he played really well," Johnson told cricket.com.au.

"Root was definitely a challenge, and Williamson, I didn't get to see enough of him, but what I did see at the end of my career, he was on his game and really hard to bowl to. He didn't really nick the ball and if he did he had good hands and it always dropped short.

"Virat was always competitive. You always had that challenge coming up against him, that you could have a bit of a go at him and he'd lose it for a couple of balls but then he'd get back on target. He played exceptionally well against us in Australia (during the 2014-15 summer).

"Those guys are the future of the game.

"AB de Villiers was the guy who really stood out for me. Now some of these younger guys are coming up towards his standard. AB was a guy that was above everyone else for a long period; just how calm he was, he had all the shots."

Johnson saved some of his best Test bowling for the South Africans, taking 64 wickets in 12 matches at 25 against the side with whom Australia often tussled for the title of world's best during the left-arm quick's career.

Two of his three 10-wicket hauls came against the Proteas, and de Villiers was one of his victims in a haul of 8-61 the first time he bowled to South Africa in a Test – back in 2008 at the WACA.

De Villiers made 63 that day and went on to figure in each of the dozen Tests Johnson played against South Africa, generally dominating with five hundreds, six fifties and an average of 66.

Johnson claimed his wicket another three times (four times in all from 21 innings), all of which came on Australia's successful 2014 tour when Michael Clarke's side returned to the top of the Test rankings.

Johnson respects – and even enjoys – the work of the current generation, 32-year-old de Villiers included, for the aggressive attitude they take into the five-day game, though as a retired fast bowler, there's one obvious caveat to his praise. 

"This generation – Smith, Williamson, Kohli – they do have all the shots and they take them into Test cricket," he said.

"That's great because it means the game flows along, there's always something going on.

"Those guys are all definitely tough to bowl to. But look, I'll say it – they're generally playing in very good batting conditions."

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