AB De Villiers The Autobiography ( 1)

Description

AB de Villiers

de Villiers in 2006
Personal information
Full name	Abraham Benjamin de Villiers
Born	17 February 1984 (age 40) Warmbad, Transvaal Province, South Africa
Nickname	Mr. 360, ABD, Alien, Superman[1]
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right arm medium
Role	Wicket-keeper-batter
International information
National side	South Africa (2004–2018)
Test debut (cap 296)	17 December 2004 v England
Last Test	30 March 2018 v Australia
ODI debut (cap 78)	2 February 2005 v England
Last ODI	16 February 2018 v India
ODI shirt no.	17
T20I debut (cap 20)	24 February 2006 v Australia
Last T20I	29 October 2017 v Bangladesh
T20I shirt no.	17
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2003/04	Northerns
2004/05–2017/18	Titans
2008–2010	Delhi Daredevils (squad no. 17)
2011–2021	Royal Challengers Bangalore (squad no. 17)
2016	Barbados Tridents (squad no. 17)
2018	Tshwane Spartans (squad no. 17)
2019	Rangpur Riders (squad no. 17)
2019	Lahore Qalandars (squad no. 17)
2019	Middlesex (squad no. 17)
2019/20	Brisbane Heat (squad no. 17)
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI T20I FC Matches 114 228 78 141 Runs scored 8,765 9,577 1,672 10,689 Batting average 50.66 53.50 26.12 49.71 100s/50s 22/46 25/53 0/10 25/60 Top score 278* 176 79* 278* Balls bowled 204 192 – 234 Wickets 2 7 – 2 Bowling average 52.00 28.85 – 69.00 5 wickets in innings 0 0 – 0 10 wickets in match 0 0 – 0 Best bowling 2/49 2/15 – 2/49 Catches/stumpings 222/5 176/5 65/7 275/6
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 8 December 2023

Abraham Benjamin de Villiers (born 17 February 1984) is a South African former international cricketer, and a current commentator. AB de Villiers was named as the ICC ODI Player of the Year^[2] three times during his 15-year international career and was one of the five Wisden cricketers of the decade at the end of 2019.^[3] He is regarded as one of the greatest cricketers in the history of the sport and as one of the best batsmen of his era.^[4][5] de Villiers began his international career as a wicket-keeper-batsman, but he has played most often solely as a batsman. He batted at various positions in the batting order, but predominantly in the middle-order. Regarded as one of the most innovative and destructive batsmen in the modern era, de Villiers is known for a range of unorthodox shots, particularly behind the wicket-keeper.^[6] He made his international debut in a Test match against England in 2004 and first played a One Day International (ODI) in early 2005. His debut in Twenty20 International cricket came in 2006. He scored over 8,000 runs in both Test and ODI cricket and is one of the very few batsmen to have a batting average of over fifty in both forms of the game.^[7] In limited overs cricket, he is an attacking player.^[8] He holds the record for the fastest ODI fifty (16 balls), fastest ODI century (31 balls), and fastest ODI 150 (62 balls).

De Villiers captained South Africa in all three formats, although after a series of injuries, he stepped down from the Test captaincy. In 2017, he stepped down from captaining the national limited-overs games^[9] and in May 2018, he announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket.^[10][11][12] In January 2020, however, de Villiers expressed an interest in making an international comeback and play in the 2020 T20 World Cup,^[13] although later in the year it was confirmed that he would not do so.^[14][15][16] On 19 November 2021, de Villiers announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.^[17]