The Legend of Cricket Abraham Benjamin de Villiers

Cricketing Legend Abraham Benjamin de Villiers Mr. 360

Born: February 17,1984,Pretoria

AGE: 37y 330d,  

Batting style: Right hand bat 

Bowling Style: Right arm medium 

Fielding position: Wicketkeeper 

Playing Role: Wicketkeeper Batter 

De Villiers is a 360- degree batsman who can hit any ball, anywhere, against any bowler. He has been ranked among the top Test and ODI batsmen in the world and established a cult-like following in T20 cricket, where his performance in the IPL have earned him a legion of Indian fans. 

De Villiers made his Test debut against England in 2004 when he was picked after just 16 first – class matches. He opened the batting in that match .He was later moved into the middle order and asked to keep wicket. That would become the story of his career. De Villiers has batted everywhere from No.1 to No.8 and performed well in most of those positions . 

After a brief slump in form in 2006 and 2007, De Villiers’ returned early in 2008 with a blistering 103 not out off 109 balls in Durban against West Indies. Later that year, he became the first South Africa to score a double – century against India, his undefeated 217 at Ahmedabad. He topped that up with 174 at Leeds in South Africa’s first series in England since readmission and a 106* against Australia in Perth in the country’s first win in Australia post-readmission. That was de Villiers best Test year, with 1060 runs at 58.94.

He first came close to that again in 2010, When he scored 996 runs in the calendar year. His 278* against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi gave him the highest individual score by a South African in test cricket. That same year, de Villiers also struck three successive ODI centuries, two against India and one against West Indies. 

BY then , de Villiers had also accepted the responsibility of full time Test gloveman after Mark Boucher’s retirement, as well as ODI and T20 captaincy after Graeme Smith stepped down.  

De Villiers blossomed with the additional responsibility, even as concerns over a chronic back injury  grew. He was relieved from keeping in shorter formats to concentrate on captaincy when Quinton de Kock was included in the South Africa squad. By 2014, he had also handed Test keeper’s gloves to de Kock. 

That did nothing to dim de Villiers’ resolve. He came back with even more striking power than before and in January 2015 broke the record for the fastest ODI century, reaching it in just 31 balls against West Indies at the Wanderers. He rectified that through the IPL, where he was one the Royal Challengers Bangalore’s most successful players. In a memorable match in the 2014 edition of the competition, de Villiers smacked his countryman Steyn for 23 runs in one over.   

Career averages , Batting & Fielding 

Debut/Last Test Matches 

Debut = South Africa vs England at Port Elizabeth December 17-21-2004

Last= South Africa vs Australia at Johannesburg March 30-April 03,2018

ODI Matches 

Debut = South Africa vs England at Bloemfontein February 02, 2005

Last = South Africa vs India at Centurion- February 16, 2018

T20I Matches 

Debut =  South Africa vs Australia at Johannesburg February 24,2006

Last = South Africa vs Bangladesh at Potchefstroom – October 29, 2017

AB de Villiers who announced his retirement from all formats in November 2021, featured in 114 Tests

228 ODIs and 78 T20s for the Protease. He was also a part of the IPL franchise RCB for more than a decade,

Having joined the team ahead of the 2011 season. 

The 37-year-old said that he intends to help out in a coaching capacity or mentoring role. 

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