South Africa's Superman - AB de Villiers

Ab de Villiers is one name in the cricketing world that represents the epitome of success in cricket. He is one of the most popular and highest-paid athletes, who loves to win each game with his attacking batting. ABD or as he is fondly called, Mr. 360, is known for his unorthodox batting and his ability to play shots all-around the wicket with perfection. Apart from RCB in the IPL, he has played for various T20 franchises like Tshwane Spartans, Barbados Tridents, Rangpur Riders and PSL team Lahore Qalandars.

Records Held by Abraham Benjamin De Villiers In International Cricket

• He is the only batsman who has scored more than 2000 runs in ODI at a strike rate of 100 plus and has an average of more than 50. In 228 ODIs, De Villiers has scored 9577 runs at a strike rate of 101.09, averaging 53.50.
• Ab De Villiers has won the ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year award three times in his career.
• De Villiers holds the record for scoring the fastest fifty in ODI cricket in just 16 balls.
• Ab De Villiers’ fastest 100 in ODIs was recorded in 31 balls against West Indies.
• He has an average of 50 plus in both Test and ODI cricket. He scores at an average of 50.66 in tests and 53.50 in ODIs.
• 47 is Ab De Villiers’ century number in international cricket, which is third-highest by South African.
• The record of scoring the fastest 150 in ODI cricket is also held by De Villiers, which he achieved in 64 balls during the 2015 World Cup.
• De Villiers scored his first duck in Test cricket after playing 78 innings.
• 328 is the number of Ab De Villiers’ sixes in international cricket. He stands on the seventh position in the highest six-hitters list.
• ABD is the fifth leading run-scorer in ODI cricket World Cups. He has scored 1207 runs in 23 World Cup matches at a strike rate of 117.29
• De Villiers has scored 20,014 runs in 420 matches with 47 hundreds and 109 fifties and is only one of twelve batsmen to score 20,000 or more runs.

Personal Life

Ab De Villiers’s full name is Abraham Benjamin de Villiers and he was born on 17 February 1984 in Warmbad, South Africa. Ab De Villiers’s wife is Danielle Swart, whom he proposed to at the Taj Mahal in 2012 and then got married in 2013 at Bela-Bela, South Africa.

He is an accomplished singer and guitar player with a pop album called Maak Jou Drome Waar to his credit, which he recorded in 2010 along with South African singer Ampie du Preez. In April 2020, ABD's autobiography, AB: The Autobiography, was released. AB de Villiers’s net worth is 20 Million USD and which has shown a hike of 170% in the past few years. Most of his income comes from cricket and various endorsements for which he charges massive amounts of money. His fans lovingly call him Mr. 360 and ABD.

International Career

Abraham de Villiers made his Test debut at the age of 20 in 2004 against England Cricket team, where he made a strong impression while batting in the series. The second test series in the Caribbean was good for him with the bat as his team won the series; however, during the Australia tour in 2005, he struggled with the bat.

AB de Villiers’ ODI debut was in 2005 against England, but it was in the winter of 2006 that he scored his then highest one-day score of 92 not out against India team. He has the reputation of being an outstanding fielder as well, and he generally fields in slips and sometimes covers. AB de Villiers’ cricket journey in 2008 saw one more milestone added to his name as he became the first South African to score a double century in Tests when he scored 217 against India. The stubborn 174 runs he scored helped his team achieve a 10-wicket win against England in 2008.

With the help of a match-winning century by de Villiers, South Africa achieved their first Test victory in Australia in 15 years. He helped his team win the ODI series against Australia by scoring 82 runs in the 4th ODI and was awarded the Man-of-the-Match. In the ODI series against Zimbabwe, where South Africa won the series 3-0, AB de Villiers scored two centuries. For his terrific performances in 2009 and 2010, ICC named De Villiers in the World Test XI and World ODI XI in 2010.

In 2011, South Africa coach Gary Kirsten announced AB de Villiers as the limited-overs captain. Under his captaincy, South Africa won the ODI series against Sri Lanka, where De Villiers was named Player of the series. He became the full-time wicket-keeper of South Africa after the retirement of Mark Boucher. In 2013, De Villiers became the first wicket-keeper to score a century and effect ten dismissals in a Test.

De Villiers scored runs as his team’s mainstay throughout his journey and helped South Africa win matches. He was successful as a captain and was terrific behind the stumps too. AB de Villiers’s retirement in 2018 came as a shock to his fans when he announced he was done with all forms of international cricket.

2007 Cricket World Cup

AB failed to impress with the bat in the early stage of the World Cup but later scored his maiden ODI hundred against West Indies in the Super 8 games. AB de Villiers scored 146 runs from 130 balls and stitched a second-wicket partnership of 170 runs with Jacques Kallis, helping his team win the match by 67 runs. ABD scored four ducks along with scores of 62, 92, 15, 42, 15 runs throughout the tournament, apart from the lone century.

2011 Cricket World Cup

ABD scored two consecutive centuries in the 2011 World Cup and became the first South African player to score two centuries in a World Cup. He became the fifth batsman to score two consecutive centuries and 16th batsman to score two centuries in a World Cup tournament. ABD’s cricket career is full of records and he bagged three Man-of-the-Match (MOM) awards to become the second South African to have been awarded these many times in the World Cup.

2015 World Cup

AB de Villiers became the third player to score most runs in the 2015 World Cup tournament. He scored 482 runs at a strike rate of 144, where 162 runs scored by him against West Indies were the fastest 150 runs in ODI. Although South Africa lost the semi-final against New Zealand, De Villiers was ranked 1st in the ICC batsmen ranking in One day International cricket and 3rd in the ICC batsmen ranking in Test cricket at the end of the tournament.

AB de Villiers’ IPL Journey

Indian Premier League cannot be imagined without the crowd’s favorite 360-degree batsman, AB De Villiers. He is famous across all cricket-playing nations. De Villiers has been a part of the extravagant IPL tournament right from its inception. He first joined the Delhi Daredevils team, staying with them for three seasons. ABD was the highest run-scorer for Delhi Daredevils in the 2009 IPL, where he scored 465 runs. The third season of IPL was average for this star player, which led him to part ways with the franchise.

Royal Challengers bought this dashing player for a whopping 1.1 million dollars afterward, and ABD has been proving his worth each season since then. After joining RCB, he became every fan's favorite and the crowd puller for his team. AB de Villiers’ RCB career has proven to be brilliant and he has managed to justify every penny RCB spends on him every year. Ever since 2011, he is in the list of top three run-scorers of the IPL consistently. ABD is one of those versatile players who scores as well as saves runs for his team. ABD’s IPL career has seen many records broken and created, but sadly RCB is still searching for their maiden IPL title.

AB De Villiers stats

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