AB de Villiers

Abraham Benjamin "AB" de Villiers

AB de Villiers training
Personal information
Full name Abraham Benjamin de Villiers
Born 17 February 1984
Pretoria, Transvaal Province, South Africa
Nickname AB, Mr. 360°
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Batting style Right-handed
Bowling style Right-arm medium
Role Wicket-keeper, All-rounder
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 296) 17 December 2004 v England
Last Test 2 January 2015 v West Indies
ODI debut (cap 78) 2 February 2005 v England
Last ODI 24 March 2015 v New Zealand
ODI shirt no. 17
T20I debut (cap 20) 24 February 2006 v Australia
Last T20I 9 November 2014 v Australia
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2003–2004 Northerns
2004– Titans (squad no. 17)
2008–2010 Delhi Daredevils
2011–present Royal Challengers Bangalore (squad no. 17)
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 98 187 124 219
Runs scored 7,606 7,941 9,493 9,278
Batting average 52.09 53.65 51.03 52.71
100s/50s 21/36 20/46 22/50 21/51
Top score 278* 162* 278* 162*
Balls bowled 204 180 234 180
Wickets 2 7 2 7
Bowling average 52.00 27.28 69.00 27.28
5 wickets in innings 0 0 0 0
10 wickets in match 0 0 0 0
Best bowling 2/49 2/15 2/49 2/15
Catches/stumpings 184/4 156/5 235/5 182/5
Source: Cricinfo, 24 March 2015

Abraham Benjamin "AB" de Villiers (born 17 February 1984) is a South African cricketer, who captains the South African One Day International (ODI) team,[1] having succeeded Graeme Smith after the 2011 Cricket World Cup.

Widely regarded as the best batsman in the world at present,[2][3][4] De Villiers dominated the top of the ICC Test batting rankings in 2014, along with Kumar Sangakkara. As of January 2015, he is ranked second in the ICC Test and first in the ODI batting rankings.[5]

The son of Dr Abraham B de Villiers, he attended Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Afrikaans High School for Boys, also known as Affies), a public school located in Pretoria. De Villiers is a right-handed batsman, who, in a very short space of time, has accumulated many runs in Tests including 16 centuries and 32 fifties. He still holds the record for most Test innings without registering a duck (78),[6] before being dismissed for nought against Bangladesh in November 2008. He also holds the second-highest individual score by a South African batsman in an innings, with 278*. Until 2012, he was an occasional wicket-keeper for South Africa, although since the retirement of regular Test keeper Mark Boucher and under his own ODI captaincy he has started to regularly keep wicket for the national side in Tests, ODIs and T20Is, but then decided to give up wicketkeeping after the debut of Quinton de Kock, and started becoming a part-time bowler.

He holds the record for the fastest 50(16 balls), 100(31 balls) and 150(64 balls) in One Day Internationals. On 18 January 2015, AB de Villiers smashed the fastest century in ODI history, breaking New Zealand's Corey Anderson's record, reaching 100 off just 31 balls and going on to score 149 runs off just 44 balls against the West Indies.

Education

AB de Villiers attended Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Afrikaans High School for Boys, also known as Affies), a public school located in Pretoria. He attended alongside Jacques Rudolph, Heino Kuhn and Francois du Plessis, fellow Titans and South African international cricketers.

He is a recipient of the prestigious national medal from the Late Nelson Mandela for a science project.[7]

Other sports

He is a talented sportsman and has excelled in golf, rugby, badminton, cricket and tennis. At his school he was part of the school's U-14 cricket team. He played golf at a good level. Rugby was the most followed sport at his school so he took it up too. He once had a flair for hockey and made it to the U-16 side of the school. He was shortlisted for South Africa's junior national hockey team.[7]

He returned to play rugby when he stopped with hockey. He was soon part of the school's rugby team, the 1st XV of the Affies.[8] He performed extraordinarily well and was selected for the Blue Bulls U-18 side, which had some big names that would later represent South African rugby.[9]

Cricket career

De Villiers became the second youngest and second fastest South African to reach 1000 test runs after Graeme Pollock and in his test career so far has batted, bowled and kept wicket as well. He is a talented sportsman and has excelled in golf (playing off scratch despite playing infrequently[10]), rugby, badminton, cricket and tennis. However, he chose to pursue a career in cricket and, after a spell in the South Africa U19 team, he made his debut for the Titans in 2003/4. He also played for Carrickfergus Cricket Club in Northern Ireland as their overseas player in 2004.

He made his test debut as a 20-year-old on 16 December 2004 against England at Port Elizabeth. He made an impression opening the batting, but was dropped down the order for the second test and also handed the wicket-keeping gloves. In this match, he made a match saving half century from number seven. However, he found himself at the top of the order again for the final test of the series and has played the majority of his tests there.

Despite a good tour of the Caribbean where he scored 178 to help South Africa seal a test series win, his rapid progress was halted on the tour of Australia in 2005. Despite playing Shane Warne well, he struggled and made just 152 runs in 6 innings.

He has been used in a similar fashion to Jonty Rhodes in ODIs, opening the innings, although he currently bats in the middle order. The 2005 ODI tour to India represented a 'coming of age' for De Villiers as a cricketer as he scored his second ODI half century on 24 October 2006, batting 5th in a partnership with Mark Boucher, playing against an impressive Sri Lankan side. De Villiers gave the selectors a sign by producing his then highest one-day score of 92 not out, which included 12 fours and one six, from 98 balls against India in the 2006 winter series.

De Villiers has a reputation as an outstanding fielder, typified by a diving run-out of Simon Katich of Australia in 2006, when he dived to stop the ball, and while still lying on his stomach facing away from the stumps, he tossed the ball backwards over his shoulder and effected a direct hit. This has also led people to make further comparisons of him to Jonty Rhodes as he was also one of the finest fielders of his generation.

In 2009 he was nominated as ICC Cricketer of the year and ICC Test Player of the year.

On 6 June 2011, then S.A. coach Gary Kirsten announced that AB de Villiers will be South Africa's new limited-overs captain, at a news conference. "I'm very excited but I'm also inexperienced. But I've learnt a lot the last seven years from an unbelievable captain," said De Villiers, who has never captained a team at first-class level. "It's a big responsibility, but there'll be a fresh look in the side, which is good."

World Cup 2007

Competing in the 2007 Cricket World Cup he was in career best form in ODIs having scored four 50s during the South Africa vs India/Pakistan (2007) matches.

In the early stages of the tournament his form was poor with three failures including a duck against the Netherlands in a match where his team broke various records for batting. His talent was shown by a 92 in the first round against Australia which was scored in a high-pressure situation. Indeed it was around the time De Villiers got out (run out from the boundary by Shane Watson) when South Africa lost their rhythm and went on to lose the game.

His third highest innings to date in ODIs came in the Super 8 game against West Indies on 10 April 2007. He made his maiden ODI hundred, 146 from just 130 balls including 5 sixes and 12 fours. This was despite batting with a runner for the latter stages of his innings and seemingly finding every shot painful due to a combination of cramps, heat exhaustion and dehydration. His innings consisted of a second wicket partnership of 170 with Jacques Kallis and a third wicket partnership of 70 with Herschelle Gibbs the latter of which was dominated by De Villiers batting on one leg. De Villiers' innings helped set up a total of 356/4 from 50 overs.

His batting during the world cup was thus at the peaks of both sides since he had also failed to score on 4 occasions, a record in and of itself[11]

2008

On 4 April 2008 he became the first South African to score a double century against India with his top score of 217*.

De Villiers scored an obdurate 174 that helped set up a ten-wicket win for South Africa in the second Test against England at Headingley Carnegie in Leeds in July 2008. This was followed by a 97 at The Oval before he came down the wicket trying to smash Panesar for a boundary and was clean bowled.

Tour of Australia 2008/09

In the first Test in Perth, De Villiers scored a matchwinning century to help South Africa chase down the second highest ever fourth innings target of 414 with six wickets in hand. This was South Africa's first Test victory in Australia in 15 years and appeared to go a long way towards tilting world cricket's balance of power after over a decade of Australian dominance. De Villiers also took four diving catches in the course of the match, including one to dismiss Jason Krejza, a stunner at backward point.[12]

De Villiers only scored 11 runs though in the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and made another low score in the first innings of the final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. In the second innings of that Test though, De Villiers scored a patient half-century as South Africa almost held on for an against-the-odds draw.[13]

In the 4th ODI in Adelaide he played as wicketkeeper after Boucher was ruled out. He then scored 82 not out from 85 balls with 6 fours and a six to win the series and was named man of the match.

Return series, Johannesburg 2009

AB de Villiers training with South Africa in 2009.

In the first Test at the Wanderers Stadium, De Villiers provided lone resistance in the first innings against a bowling attack led by pace bowler, Mitchell Johnson, scoring 104* of 185 balls with 9 fours and 1 six, whilst his teammates all fell for under 50. But in the second innings he made only 3 of 7.

In the third test, after centuries from Ashwell Prince and Jacques Kallis, De Villiers became the third centurion of the innings with a score of 163 off 196 balls with 12 fours and 7 sixes. This knock also tied the record of most sixes in an over as De Villiers, off a McDonald over, hit four consecutive sixes.

In the following 5 game ODI series, De Villiers played consistently, although starting badly in the first game, scoring only 2 runs. However, he went on to make 36*, 80, 84, and 38, and was named Player of the Series at the conclusion of game 5.

Series against Zimbabwe October 2010

He was rested for the two-match Twenty20 series against Zimbabwe and because Mark Boucher was injured as well Heino Kuhn donned the keeping gloves. De Villiers returned for the ODI series and also took over the gloves while Mark Boucher was recovering. He did well against Zimbabwe scoring two centuries out of the three ODIs as South Africa comfortably won the three match series 3–0.

Against Pakistan in October 2010

His major challenge came against Pakistan for the two Twenty20 matches, where he kept wicket. In the first match he was out for a second-ball duck off a superb delivery by Shoaib Akhtar. In the second T20I he scored 11 runs. He then participated in the five-match ODI series where South Africa were chasing 203 to win and he scored 51 before he was caught and bowled by Saeed Ajmal. In the second ODI he scored 29 as he was bowled by Shahid Afridi; in the same match a flamboyant Abdul Razzaq played the greatest innings of his life to lift Pakistan to an unbelievable victory. During the third match he scored 19 before he was stumped by Zulqarnain Haider. It turned out to be a mistake by the umpire as he had pressed the wrong button. In the fourth match he missed out on a half-century while on 49 when he gave his wicket to the fielder at point. His good form in the series continued when he scored 61 in the final ODI as South Africa won by 57 runs and the series 3–2.

Indian Premier League

In the fourth season of Indian Premier League, he was contracted by Royal Challengers Bangalore for US$1.1 million. He played for the Delhi Daredevils in the previous seasons.

ICC World Cup 2011

AB de Villiers scored two successive centuries in the 2011 World Cup. He became the first South African to score two centuries in a single World Cup and the fifth batsman after Mark Waugh, Saeed Anwar, Rahul Dravid and Matthew Hayden to score two consecutive centuries in a single World Cup tournament. He also became the 16th batsman to score two or more centuries in one World Cup tournament. AB de Villiers' strike rate of 136.73 is the highest among South African batsmen who have scored centuries in World Cup matches. With his third player of the match award in World Cups, de Villiers is joint second with Jacques Kallis on the list of South African players with most match awards in World Cups. Lance Klusener heads the list with five awards.

2011–12

In the 2011–12 South African summer, de Villiers featured in the home series against Australia and against Sri Lanka. In the latter, he scored a century (160 not out) in South Africa's win in the third and deciding Test of the series. He was named the "Player of the Series", having scored 353 runs at an average of 117.66.[14] He then led South Africa for his first series since being appointed captain of the One Day International team. In his first match as captain, South Africa inflicted the heaviest defeat in Sri Lanka's history, with a 258-run win in Paarl on 11 January 2012.[15] It was also the largest margin of victory (by runs) in an ODI match between two Test-playing teams.[16] South Africa went on to win the ODI series, and De Villiers was named player of the series, having scored 329 runs at an average of 109.66,[17] including a century (125 not out) in the fifth and final match in Johannesburg.[18] On 10 July, De Villiers was handed full-time wicketkeeping duties after Mark Boucher announced retirement from cricket after suffering eye injuries from a hit from a bail the day before.

2013

On 4 February 2013, de Villiers equalled Jack Russell's record of 11 dismissals in a match.[19] He also scored an unbeaten 103 off 117 balls in South Africa's second innings of the same match. In the process, he became the first wicketkeeper to score a century and claim 10 dismissals in a Test.[20]

On 18 March, during the third ODI match of Pakistan's tour of South Africa at Johannesburg, de Villiers and Hashim Amla shared the record for the highest third wicket partnership in an ODI when they scored 238. De Villiers scored 12 fours and 3 sixes, and a total of 128.[21]

2015

On 18 January 2015, de Villiers scored the fastest century by a batsman in One Day International cricket, off 31 balls and eventually scoring 149 runs off 44 balls.[22]

On 27 February 2015, de Villiers scored 162 runs of 66 balls in a match against the West Indies in Pool B of 2015 Cricket World Cup; leading South Africa to their second highest total in world cup history (408) on the Sydney Cricket Ground. With this feat, he became the record holder for the all fastest 50, 100, and 150 in One-Day International history.

Under the captaincy of de Villiers, South Africa qualified for the semi-finals of the World Cup, but lost to New Zealand in the match.

He is ranked number 1 in the ICC batsmen rating in ODI cricket.

He certainly has an undefeated fan following across the globe. Be it a home match at Johannesburg or an IPL match at Delhi, you can always hear chants of "AB AB AB" from the stands.[23][24]

Statistics

Statistics are correct as of 4 February 2013

Career best performances

  Batting Wicketkeeping
Score Fixture Venue Season Dismissals Fixture Venue Season
Tests 278*  South Africa v  Pakistan Abu Dhabi 2010–11 11  South Africa v  Pakistan New Wanderers Stadium 2013
ODI 162*  South Africa v  West Indies SCG, Sydney 2015 n/a
T20I 79*  South Africa v  Scotland The Oval 2009 n/a
overall cricket 278*  South Africa v  Pakistan Abu Dhabi 2010
LA 214  South Africa v  West Indies St. George's 2007 n/a
T20 105* Delhi Daredevils v Chennai Super Kings Durban 2009 n/a

Test analysis

Records against opponents

Opponent[25] Matches Innings Not out Runs High Score 100 50 Average Catches/Stumpings
 Australia 20 37 3 1,641 169 5 9 48.26 31/1
 Bangladesh 4 5 1 69 46 0 0 17.25 5/–
 England 16 27 1 1,183 174 2 6 45.50 32/1
 India 13 22 1 865 217* 3 2 41.19 30/–
 New Zealand 10 14 0 546 127 1 5 35.66 22/–
 Pakistan 12 21 4 1,112 278* 4 3 65.41 31/1
 Sri Lanka 7 12 1 691 160* 1 5 81.42 2/–

Records by year

Year[25] Matches Innings Not out Runs High Score 100 50 Average Catches/Stumpings
2004 2 4 1 108 52* 0 1 36.00 6/–
2005 11 19 0 1008 178 3 5 53.05 10/1
2006 11 21 0 570 97 0 4 27.14 17/–
2007 9 16 2 387 77 0 3 27.64 14/–
2008 15 22 4 1061 217* 4 2 58.94 20/–
2009 6 11 1 572 163 2 4 57.20 9/–
2010 11 18 5 996 278* 3 4 76.61 17/–
2011 5 8 0 377 99 0 4 47.12 4/–
2012 10 16 2 815 160* 2 2 75.60 2/–
2013 7 10 1 743 164 3 4 82.55 11/–
TOTAL 83 139 16 6,146 278* 15 32 49.72 110/1

Records by location

Location[25] Matches Innings Not out Runs High Score 100 50 Average Catches/Stumpings
Home 44 72 6 2828 163 7 17 40.88 80/1
Away 37 64 9 3010 217* 7 14 55.93 28/–
Neutral 2 3 1 308 278* 1 1 102.67 2/–
TOTAL 83 139 16 6,146 278* 15 32 49.72 110/1

High scores

Score[26] Minutes Balls Position Innings Opposition Location Date
278* 601 418 5 1  Pakistan Abu Dhabi 20 Nov 2010
217* 480 333 6 2  India Ahmedabad 3 April 2008
178 551 352 2 2  West Indies Bridgetown 21 April 2005
174 517 381 6 2  England Leeds 18 July 2008
169 225 184 5 2  Australia Perth 2 Dec 2012

Batting graph
Test batting career of AB de Villiers as of 1 June 2012 with career batting average (left) and 10 innings moving average (right).

ODI analysis

Records against opponents

Opponent[27] Matches Innings Not out Runs High Score 100 50 Average Strike rate Catches/Stumpings
Asia XI (for Africa XI) 5 5 0 150 70 0 1 44.52 90.90 5/–
 Australia 23 23 4 1189 136* 1 6 62.57 99.74 11/2
 Bangladesh 6 5 2 213 69* 0 2 71.00 82.55 9/–
 England 21 19 1 520 121 1 0 28.88 80.12 8/–
 India 22 22 3 891 114* 3 3 46.89 105.31 10/1
 Ireland 2 2 0 40 40 0 0 20.00 105.26 1/–
 Kenya 2 2 0 39 28 0 0 19.50 100.00 1/–
 Netherlands 3 2 0 134 134 1 0 67.00 134.00 –
 New Zealand 16 16 6 560 106* 1 2 56.00 89.88 9/1
 Pakistan 30 29 7 1346 128 3 5 61.18 89.79 13/1
 Scotland 1 1 0 62 62 0 1 62.00 137.77 1/–
 Sri Lanka 16 16 2 756 125* 2 3 54.00 103.29 8/–
 West Indies 21 19 3 1219 162* 5 4 76.18 113.28 10/–
 Zimbabwe 12 12 2 502 109 3 2 50.20 107.03 13/–
TOTAL 177 171 29 7,440 162*20 28 52.39 99/3

Records by year

Year[27] Matches Innings Not out Runs High Score 100 50 Average Strike rate Catches/Stumpings
2005 14 14 0 221 99 0 1 15.78 66.76 4/–
2006 12 12 1 466 92* 0 3 42.36 84.88 6/–
2007 33 32 5 1209 146 3 8 44.77 92.29 20/–
2008 17 14 2 434 77 0 3 36.16 78.33 15/–
2009 17 17 3 762 121 1 6 54.42 92.81 12/–
2010 16 16 4 964 114* 5 4 80.33 102.11 22/1
2011 10 10 1 467 134 2 3 51.88 104.94 7/1
2012 8 8 5 475 125* 2 2 158.33 116.13 13/1
TOTAL 127 123 21 4,998 146 13 28 49.00 93.19 99/3

Records by location

Location[27] Matches Innings Not out Runs High Score 100 50 Average Strike rate Catches/Stumpings
Home 74 72 11 3224 149 7 21 52.85 100.46 41/1
Away 63 59 14 2651 146 8 14 58.91 97.07 36/1
Neutral 40 40 1 1565 136* 4 8 43.47 86.03 22/1
TOTAL 177 171 26 7,440 149 19 43 49.00 93.19 99/3

High scores

Score[28] Minutes Balls Position Innings Opposition Location Date
162* 102 66 5 1  West Indies Sydney 27 Feb 2015
149 59 44 3 1  West Indies Johannesburg 18 Jan 2015
146 195 130 1 1  West Indies St George's 10 Apr 2007
134 126 98 4 1  Netherlands Mohali 3 Mar 2011
125* 144 98 4 1  Sri Lanka Johannesburg 22 Jan 2012
121 117 85 3 1  England Cape Town 27 Nov 2009
114* 154 101 5 2  India Gwalior 24 Feb 2010

Batting graph
ODI batting career of AB de Villiers as of 1 June 2012 with career batting average (left) and 10 innings moving average (right).

Records

Personal life

A Christian, he has stated that his faith is crucial to his approach to life. He has said "Jesus is everything in my life – he's the man", and "My faith means more to me than playing for my country. It comes first.".[31] He is married to Danielle de Villiers (née Swart).

References

  1. ↑ "AB de Villiers named ODI and T20 captain". Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  2. ↑ "'De Villiers the No. 1 batsman across formats'". Cricinfo.
  3. ↑ "AB de Villiers the best cricket batsman in world across all three formats, writes Michael Hussey". The Courier Mail.
  4. ↑ "'AB de Villiers' record ODI hundred off 31 balls could make him the best batsman of all time'". SkySports.
  5. ↑ "ICC released Test players ranking list". Patrika Group. 15 July 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  6. ↑ Players Batting 30 Innings before First Duck Retrieved on 27 November 2008
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "AB de Villiers is a hockey, football, rugby, tennis and badminton champ!".
  8. ↑ Making Champions: How South Africa's sporting heroes are made.
  9. ↑ "AB de Villiers – An insight into why he is a true legend of modern sport".
  10. ↑ "South Africa – Players to watch". news.bbc.co.uk/sport (www.bbc.co.uk). 2005-03-16. Retrieved 2006-03-16.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Batting Analysis: World Cup".
  12. ↑ Cricinfo – 1st Test Australia v South Africa at Perth, 17–21 Dec 2008, from Cricinfo, retrieved 21 December 2008
  13. ↑ "Cricinfo scorecard". Content-aus.cricinfo.com. Retrieved 2012-10-04.
  14. ↑ "South Africa complete long-awaited series win". www.cricket365.com. 6 January 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  15. ↑ Ravindran, Siddarth (11 January 2012). "Sri Lanka dismantled in Paarl". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
  16. ↑ "Records / One-Day Internationals / Team records / Largest margin of victory (by runs)". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
  17. ↑ "Records / Sri Lanka in South Africa ODI Series, 2011/12 / Most runs". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
  18. ↑ "Sri Lanka tour of South Africa, 5th ODI: South Africa v Sri Lanka at Johannesburg, Jan 22, 2012: Scorecard". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
  19. ↑ SuperSport channel 202 live television coverage by satellite on 4 February 2013.
  20. ↑ "AB de Villiers equals Test wicketkeeping record". Ibnlive.in.com. 2013-02-04. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
  21. ↑ "South Africa v Pakistan, 3rd ODI, Johannesburg Report : Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers set up South Africa victory | Cricket News". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
  22. ↑ http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/cricket/30870493
  23. ↑ http://www.relianceiccrankings.com
  24. ↑ data as of 20/04/2015
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 "Statistics / Statsguru / AB de Villiers / Test matches". Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  26. ↑ "High scores / Statsguru / AB de Villiers / Test matches". Cricinfo. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 "Statistics / Statsguru / AB de Villiers / ODIs". Cricinfo. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  28. ↑ "High scores / Statsguru / AB de Villiers / ODIs". Cricinfo. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  29. ↑ "Ask Steven: Captains with glasses, and batsmen with tons | Cricinfo Magazine". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
  30. ↑ "Statistics / Statsguru / One-Day Internationals / Batting records". Cricinfo.
  31. ↑ "No fear". Keo.co.za. Retrieved 2012-10-04.

External links

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