AB de Villiers: The Best All-Rounder

Abraham Benjamin de Villiers (South African Cricketer) was born on February 17, 1984, in Bela-Bela, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Three times during his 15-year international career, he was voted ICC ODI Player of The Year. At the end of 2019, he was one of the five Wisden cricketers in that decade.

 

De Villiers started as an international player, but he played as a batsman most of the time. He fought in different batting positions but mostly in the middle order. De Villiers is recognized both for several unorthodox shots, notably after the wicket-keeper and one of the most creative and destructive batsmen of the Modern Period. In 2004, he debuted in an international trial match against England. He appeared for the first time in 2005 a One Day International (ODI). In 2006 he made his first international Twenty20 cricket debut. He scored more than 8,000 runs in both Test and ODI cricket and is one of the few batsmen with an average of over 50 runs in each game. He is an attacking player in many cricket matches. He holds the fastest record in just 31 balls for the ODI century. The fastest ODI 50 and 150 were also marked in his name. He has maintained a good average of 63.52 runs in the world cup.

 In all three formats, De Villiers captured South Africa while he left the test captaincy after a series of injuries. He left the National Restricted Oversight Teams and declared in May 2018 his withdrawal from all international crickets. But in January 2020, De Villiers confirmed that he intends to return to South Africa at the 2020 T20 World Cup to make an international comeback.

Early Life

Abraham Benjamin de Villiers( South African cricketer) was born in Bela-Bela, South Africa, on February 17, 1984, to Abraham B de Villiers and Millie de Villiers. Jan and Wessels de Villiers are his two older siblings. He recalled childhood as having a "very comfortable lifestyle up there, where everybody knows everyone." He attended Afrikaanse Hor Seunskool in Pretoria, where he met and became friends with teammate Faf du Plessis. He recently graduated from high school. His father was a doctor who used to play rugby union and inspired his son to do the same as a boy.

Career

De Villiers is a right-handed batsman who has over 8,000 Tests to his name, including 22 centuries and 46 fifties. Before being dismissed for naught against Bangladesh in November 2008, he held the record for most Test innings without a duck (78). With 278*, he also has the second-highest individual score by a South African batsman. Until 2012, he was an occasional wicket-keeper for South Africa. Still, after the retirement of regular Test keeper Mark Boucher and under his own captaincy, he has regularly kept wicket for the national side in Tests, ODIs, and T20Is. In 2015, he retired from wicket-keeping and handed the gloves to debutant Quinton de Kock.

He maintains a record for the best 50 (16 balls), 100 (31 balls), and 150 (64 balls) of all time by any batsman in One Day Internationals, as well as the fastest hundred by a South African player in Tests and the fastest 50 in T20Is. He is a three-time ICC One-Day International (ODI) player of the year, having won the title in 2010, 2014, and 2015.

After the 2011 Cricket World Cup, he took over as national ODI captain from Graeme Smith. He became Test captain after the second Test of the home series against England in 2015/16. He resigned as Test captain in December 2016 due to an elbow injury that held him out of the squad for an extended period.
 

 

Some Unknown Interesting facts about AB De Villiers 

1. AB de Villiers does not smoke.

2. Is AB de Villiers an alcoholic? : Yes.

3. AB was born into a sports-crazy family that always inspired him to participate in sports.

4. He used to play a variety of sports as a child, including cricket, badminton, tennis, squash, swimming, football, golf, and rugby. Still, he quickly developed a preference for cricket.

5. He was a prankster as a child and was once expelled from school for it.

6. Since childhood, AB and Faf du Plessis have been best friends.

7. He started his career in South Africa at the age of 20 after completing 16 first-class games.

8. He looks up to South African ace fielder Jonty Rhodes for inspiration.

9. Until 2008, he was a reckless batsman who could easily throw away his wicket and never performed to his potential. South African skipper Graeme Smith and coach Mickey Arthur issued an ultimatum to him in April 2008, following his average results in the first Test against England at Lord's. AB responded positively to the criticism by scoring a match-winning 174 runs in the second Test of the series in Headingley, securing his place in the squad.

10. Music is an important part of his life. In 2010, he reunited with singer and songwriter Ampie Du Preez to produce a bi-lingual English/Afrikaans album titled 'Maak Jou Drome Waar,' which translates as 'Make Your Dreams Come True.'

11. He set the spectacular fastest ODI century record, off 31 balls, against West Indies at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on January 18, 2015.

12. When South Africa lost the nail-biting World Cup 2015 semi-final match against New Zealand, he couldn't hold back his tears and cried on the field.

13. According to Jonty Rhodes, AB decided to retire from Test cricket in 2016, but Cricket South Africa urged him not to.

14. He is a supporter of the 'Make a Difference Foundation,' which assists selected South African scholars from various fields.

15. On May 23, 2018, he shocked cricket fans worldwide when he announced his retirement from international cricket via video message, saying that he had "run out of steam" or had lost the energy to play cricket