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Abraham Benjamin de Villiers (born 17 February 1984) is a former South African international
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...
er. AB de Villiers was named as the ICC ODI Player of the Year three times during his 15-year international career and was one of the five
Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...
cricketers of the decade at the end of 2019. He is regarded as one of the greatest cricketers in the history of the sport. AB 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, as well as one of the greatest of all time, de Villiers is known for a range of unorthodox shots, particularly behind the wicket-keeper. He made his international debut in a Test match against England in 2004 and first played a
One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...
(ODI) in early 2005. His debut in
Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are th ...
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. In limited overs cricket, he is an attacking player. He holds the record for the fastest ODI century in just 31 balls. De Villiers
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
ed 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 and in May 2018, he announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket. In January 2020, however, de Villiers expressed an interest in making an international comeback and play in the 2020 T20 World Cup, although later in the year it was confirmed that he would not do so. On 19 November 2021, De Villiers announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.


Early life

Abraham Benjamin de Villiers was born on 17 February 1984 in Warmbad (modern day Bela-Bela), South Africa to Abraham B de Villiers and Millie de Villiers. He has two elder brothers Jan de Villiers and Wessels de Villiers. He described his childhood days as "really relaxed lifestyle up there, where everyone knows everyone". He was educated at
Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (also known as Affies), is a public Afrikaans medium high school for boys situated in the suburb of Elandspoort in Pretoria in the Gauteng province of South Africa. The school was founded in 1920 by Jan Joubert and ...
in
Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foothi ...
along with teammate
Faf du Plessis Francois "Faf" du Plessis ( ; born 13 July 1984) is a South African professional cricketer and former captain of the South Africa national cricket team. He is considered one of the greatest fielders of all time and is among the best all-forma ...
, who was and still remains his good friend. He is a high school graduate. His father was a doctor who had played
rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
in his youth, and he encouraged his son to play sports as a child.


Career

De Villiers is a right-handed batter who accumulated over 8,000 runs in
Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...
including 22 centuries and 46 fifties. He holds the record for most Test innings without registering a duck (78), before being dismissed for nought against
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...
in November 2008. He also holds the second-highest individual score by a South African batsman, with 278 *. Until 2012 he was an occasional
wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. ...
for South Africa, although after the retirement of regular Test keeper
Mark Boucher Mark Verdon Boucher (born 3 December 1976) is a South African cricket coach and former cricketer who played all three formats of the game. Boucher is regarded as one of the best wicket-keeper batsmen of all time, and holds the record for the ...
and under his own captaincy he has started to regularly keep wicket for the national side in Tests, ODIs and T20Is. He gave up wicket-keeping in 2015 and handed the gloves to debutant
Quinton de Kock Quinton de Kock (born 17 December 1992) is a South African cricketer and former captain of the Proteas in all three formats. He currently plays for South Africa in limited overs cricket, Titans at the domestic level, and Lucknow Super Gian ...
. He holds the records for the fastest 50 (16 balls), 100 (31 balls) and 150 (64 balls) of all time in One Day Internationals by any batsmen, and also holds the fastest hundred by a South African in Tests and the fastest 50 by South African in T20Is. He is a three-time ICC ODI player of the year, winning the award in 2010, 2014 and 2015. After the
2011 Cricket World Cup The 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup was the tenth Cricket World Cup. It was played in India, Sri Lanka, and for the first time in Bangladesh. India won the tournament, defeating Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the final at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai ...
he succeeded
Graeme Smith Graeme Craig Smith (born 1 February 1981) is a South African cricket commentator and former cricketer who played for South Africa in all formats. In 2003, he was appointed captain of the national team, taking over from Shaun Pollock. He held t ...
as captain of the national ODI side, and became Test captain after the second Test of the home series against England in 2015/16. He stepped down from Test captaincy in December 2016 due to an elbow injury which kept him out of the team for a long period.


International career


Early career

After a spell in the South Africa U19 team, he made his debut for the Titans in 2003/4. He made his Test debut as a 20-year-old on 16 December 2004 against England at Port Elizabeth. He made a strong 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. Despite a good tour of the Caribbean where he scored 178 to help South Africa seal a Test series win, his rapid progress was slowed on the tour of Australia in 2005. Despite playing
Shane Warne Shane Keith Warne (13 September 1969 – 4 March 2022) was an Australian international cricketer, whose career ran from 1991 to 2007. Warne played as a right-arm leg spin bowler and a right-handed batsman for Victoria, Hampshire and Australi ...
well and becoming the second-youngest and second-fastest South African to reach 1,000 Test runs after
Graeme Pollock Robert Graeme Pollock (born 27 February 1944) is a former cricketer for South Africa, Transvaal and Eastern Province. A member of a famous cricketing family, Pollock is widely regarded as one of South Africa's greatest ever cricketers, and as ...
, he struggled and made just 152 runs in 6 innings. He has been used in a similar fashion to
Jonty Rhodes Jonathan Neil "Jonty" Rhodes (born 27 July 1969) is a South African professional cricket commentator and former Test and One Day International cricketer. He is regarded as one of the greatest fielders of all time and was the first South African ...
in ODIs, opening the innings, although he currently bats in the middle order. 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 had a reputation as an outstanding fielder, typified by a diving run-out of
Simon Katich Simon Matthew Katich (born 21 August 1975) is an Australian cricket coach and former cricketer. He captained New South Wales and also, until the end of the 2007 season, Derbyshire County Cricket Club. Katich also played for Lancashire, represen ...
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, who was also one of the finest fielders of his generation. His fielding positions other than wicket-keeper are 1st and 2nd slip and cover.


2007 Cricket World Cup in West Indies

Competing in the
2007 Cricket World Cup The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the ninth Cricket World Cup, a One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007. There were a total of 51 matches played, three fewer than at the ...
, AB was in good form in ODIs, having scored four 50s during the South Africa vs India/Pakistan (2007) matches. In the early stages of the tournament AB's form was poor with three failures including a duck against the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
in a match where his team broke various records for batting, although he scored a 92 in the first round against Australia. He made his maiden ODI hundred, 146 from just 130 balls including 5 sixes and 12 fours, in the Super 8 game against West Indies on 10 April 2007. He had to bat with a runner for the latter stages of his innings and found 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 Jacques Henry Kallis (born 16 October 1975) is a South African cricket coach and former cricketer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketers of all time and as South Africa's greatest batsman ever, he is a right-handed batsman and righ ...
and a third wicket partnership of 70 with
Herschelle Gibbs Herschelle Herman Gibbs (born 23 February 1974) is a South African cricket coach and former cricketer, who played all formats of the game for fourteen years. A right-handed batsman, mostly opened the batting, Gibbs became the first player to hi ...
. De Villiers' innings helped set up a total of 356/4 from 50 overs. His batting during the World Cup was inconsistent as he failed to score on 4 occasions, in itself being a record.


Gaining attention

On 4 April 2008, De Villiers became the first South African to score a
double century In cricket, a century is a score of 100 or more runs in a single innings by a batsman. The term is also included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A centur ...
against
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
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 The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...
before he came down the wicket trying to smash
Monty Panesar Mudhsuden Singh "Monty" Panesar (born 25 April 1982) is a former English international cricketer. A left-arm spinner, Panesar made his Test cricket debut in 2006 against India in Nagpur and One Day International debut for England in 2007. In E ...
for a boundary and was caught on the fence. In the first Test in Perth, De Villiers scored a match-winning 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 Jason John Krejza (born 14 January 1983) is a former Australian cricketer. He played for the Tasmanian Tigers and Leicestershire. Krejza's father was an association football player from Czechoslovakia and his mother was born in Poland. His ...
, a stunner at backward point. De Villiers only scored 11 runs in the second Test at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern ...
and made another low score in the first innings of the final Test at the
Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is used for Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australian rules football and occasionally for rugby league, rugby union and association f ...
. 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. During ODI series, in the 4th ODI in Adelaide, he played as wicket-keeper 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 the man of the match. In the first Test of the return series at the Wanderers Stadium, De Villiers provided lone resistance in the first innings against a bowling attack led by pace bowler,
Mitchell Johnson Mitchell Guy Johnson (born 2 November 1981) is a former Australian cricketer, who played all forms of the game for his national side. He is a left-arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman. He made his Test debut for Australia in November 2007 ...
, scoring 104* off 185 balls with 9 fours and 1 six, while his teammates all fell for under 50. But in the second innings he made only 3 off 7. In the third Test, after centuries from
Ashwell Prince Ashwell Gavin Prince (born 28 May 1977) is a former South African cricketer and captain who played all formats of the game for South Africa. At the age of 29, he became the first non-white man to captain the South African cricket team when he st ...
and Jacques Kallis, De Villiers was 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 for most sixes in an over as De Villiers, off the bowling of McDonald, 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. He was rested for the two-match Twenty20 series against Zimbabwe and because
Mark Boucher Mark Verdon Boucher (born 3 December 1976) is a South African cricket coach and former cricketer who played all three formats of the game. Boucher is regarded as one of the best wicket-keeper batsmen of all time, and holds the record for the ...
was injured as well
Heino Kuhn Heino Gunther Kuhn (born 1 April 1984) is a South African cricketer who has played for the national team. He has played for Titans and Northerns in South African domestic cricket and in March 2018 signed a Kolpak contract with Kent County Cri ...
donned the keeping gloves. De Villiers returned for the ODI series and also took over the gloves while 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. 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 Shoaib Akhtar (; ; born 13 August 1975) is a Pakistani former cricketer and commentator. Nicknamed the "Rawalpindi Express", he was the first bowler to be recorded bowling at 100 miles per hour, a feat he achieved twice in his career. Ak ...
. 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 Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi ( ur, شاہد افریدی‎, ps, شاهد افریدی; born 1 March 1977), known as Shahid Afridi, is a Pakistani former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. He is current ...
; 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 Zulqarnain Haider ( ur, , born 23 April 1986) is a Pakistani former cricketer who has played for the national team. He had a very short international career and dramatically announced his retirement after a cameo innings of last wicket victory in ...
. 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. For his performances in 2009 and 2010, he was named in the World Test XI by the ICC, and was also named in the World ODI XI in 2010.


2011 Cricket World Cup

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 Mark Edward Waugh (born 2 June 1965) is an Australian cricket commentator and former international cricketer, who represented Australia in Test matches from early 1991 to late 2002, after previously making his One Day International (ODI) debu ...
, Saeed Anwar,
Rahul Dravid Rahul Sharad Dravid (; born 11 January 1973) is an Indian cricket coach and former List of India national cricket captains, captain of the Indian national cricket team, Indian national team, currently serving as its head coach. Prior to his ...
and
Matthew Hayden Matthew Lawrence Hayden (born 29 October 1971) is an Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer. His career spanned fifteen years. Hayden was a powerful and aggressive left-handed opening batsman, who along with opening partners, Jus ...
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 Lance Klusener (born 4 September 1971) is an international cricket coach and former cricketer of South Africa. He was known for his aggressive batting and fast-medium swing bowling. Klusener was one of the best all-rounders in the world during ...
heads the list with five awards.


Rising through the ranks

On 6 June 2011, then South Africa coach
Gary Kirsten Gary Kirsten (born 23 November 1967) is a South African cricket coach and former cricketer. He has coached the Indian Cricket Team as well as the South African Cricket team. Kirsten played 101 Test matches and 185 One Day Internationals for ...
announced that AB de Villiers would be South Africa's new limited-overs captain. "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 had 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." 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 In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...
of 117.66. He then led South Africa for his first series since being appointed captain of the
One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...
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 Paarl (; Afrikaans: ; derived from ''Parel'', meaning "pearl" in Dutch) is a town with 112,045 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the third-oldest city and European settlement in the Republic of South Africa (after ...
on 11 January 2012. It was also the largest margin of victory (by runs) in an ODI match between two Test-playing teams. 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, including a century (125 not out) in the fifth and final match in
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...
. On 10 July, De Villiers was handed full-time wicket-keeping duties after Mark Boucher announced retirement from cricket after suffering eye injuries from a hit from a bail the day before. On 4 February 2013, De Villiers equalled Jack Russell's record of 11 dismissals in a match. 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 wicket-keeper to score a century and claim 10 dismissals in a Test. On 18 March, during the third ODI match of Pakistan's tour of South Africa at Johannesburg, De Villiers and
Hashim Amla Hashim Mahomed Amla OIS (born 31 March 1983) is a South African former international cricketer who played for South Africa in all three formats of the game. Amla holds the record for being the fastest ever to score 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000 ...
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.


Record breaking year

On 18 January 2015, De Villiers scored both the fastest fifty and the fastest century by a batsman in One Day International cricket, off 16 balls and 31 balls respectively and eventually scoring 149 runs off 44 balls in 59.5 minutes against West Indies.


2015 World Cup

De Villiers was one of the top performers at the
2015 Cricket World Cup The 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 11th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was jointly hosted by A ...
scoring 482 runs at an average of 96.0 and strike rate of 144.0 during the tournament. On 27 February 2015, De Villiers scored 162 runs off 66 balls in a match against the West Indies in Pool B, leading South Africa to their second-highest total in World Cup history (408), at Sydney Cricket Ground. With this feat, he became the record holder for the 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. De Villiers finished the tournament as the third-highest run-scorer with 482 runs, behind Martin Guptill and
Kumar Sangakkara Kumara Chokshananda Sangakkara ( si, කුමාර් චොක්ශනාද සංගක්කාර; born 27 October 1977) is a Sri Lankan cricket commentator, former professional cricketer, businessman, ICC Hall of Fame inductee and ...
. At the end of the tournament, he was ranked number 1 in the ICC batsmen rating in One day International cricket and number 3 in the ICC batsmen rating in Test cricket. He was named in the 'Team of the Tournament' for the 2015 World Cup by the ICC.


2016–2018 and retirement

On 6 January 2016, the second Test match between England and South Africa ended in a draw. After the end of the match, Hashim Amla resigned from the captaincy and de Villiers was chosen to captain South Africa for the last two matches. On 21 February 2016, de Villiers scored the fastest T20I fifty by a South African, in just 21 balls. He completed the innings with 79 runs in 29 balls and led South Africa to a clean sweep in the T20I series. On 18 January 2017, de Villiers ruled himself out from most of the Test matches and ultimately played in December 2017. However, a day before the Test match,
Faf du Plessis Francois "Faf" du Plessis ( ; born 13 July 1984) is a South African professional cricketer and former captain of the South Africa national cricket team. He is considered one of the greatest fielders of all time and is among the best all-forma ...
picked up a viral infection, putting him in doubt for the match. On the morning of the Test, he was ruled out of the fixture, with AB de Villiers replacing him as captain. He also kept wicket during the match, as South Africa's wicket-keeper
Quinton de Kock Quinton de Kock (born 17 December 1992) is a South African cricketer and former captain of the Proteas in all three formats. He currently plays for South Africa in limited overs cricket, Titans at the domestic level, and Lucknow Super Gian ...
suffered a hamstring injury while batting on day one. He took eight catches in the match and the Test match finished inside two days, with South Africa winning by an innings and 120 runs. De Villiers returned for the Indian tour to South Africa in 2018. He stated he had given up wicket-keeping as his back could no longer handle the demand, and Faf du Plessis resumed his role as captain in all forms of the game. In the second Test match against Australia, he scored his 22nd Test century with a score of 126
not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at ...
off 146 balls in the first innings. His performance helped the team win the match by 6 wickets. On 23 May 2018, De Villiers announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket through a video uploaded to Twitter, in which he explained his decision. One of the statements in his monologue was "I have had my turn, and to be honest, I am tired." A few weeks after his announcement about retiring from international cricket, he clarified and said that he will continue playing T20 leagues for a few more years. During the
2019 ICC Cricket World Cup The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 12th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted between 30 May ...
, and following South Africa losing their first three matches in the tournament, details emerged of De Villiers making himself available for selection for the national team squad on the day the squad was to be announced. He was not selected as he had not played any international cricket for his country leading up to the tournament, despite having been prompted to do so by South Africa's coach Ottis Gibson earlier in the year.AB de Villiers: South Africa have 'no regret' over not recalling ex-captain for World Cup
BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside f ...
, 6 June 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
In January 2020, it was rumoured that de Villiers was in talks to make a comeback to the South African T20I side for the
2020 ICC Men's T20 World Cup The 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the seventh ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament, with the matches played in the United Arab Emirates and Oman from 17 October to 14 November 2021. The West Indies were the defending champions, but were eventua ...
. De Villiers, as well as South African director of cricket
Graeme Smith Graeme Craig Smith (born 1 February 1981) is a South African cricket commentator and former cricketer who played for South Africa in all formats. In 2003, he was appointed captain of the national team, taking over from Shaun Pollock. He held t ...
and head coach
Mark Boucher Mark Verdon Boucher (born 3 December 1976) is a South African cricket coach and former cricketer who played all three formats of the game. Boucher is regarded as one of the best wicket-keeper batsmen of all time, and holds the record for the ...
, confirmed these rumours. In November 2020, de Villiers was nominated for the Sir Garfield Sobers Award for ICC Male Cricketer of the Decade, and the award for ODI cricketer of the decade.


International centuries

De Villiers has scored 22 Test and 25 ODI centuries. He scored his first Test century against England in 2005 and his first ODI century against West Indies in 2007. He also holds the world record for the fastest 100 and 150 in One-Day Internationals.


Domestic and franchise career

Domestically de Villiers first played for Northerns, making his debut for the team in the 2003/04
Supersport Series The CSA 4-Day Domestic Series is the domestic first class cricket competition of South Africa. The tournament is contested by teams from all nine provinces of South Africa. First contested as the Currie Cup from 1889–90, the tournament has u ...
. The team merged with Easterns to form the Titans side which de Villiers then played for in the 2004/05 season. His international duties mean that he has played only occasionally for the side since 2005, making a total of only nine first-class, 20 List A and 24 Twenty20 appearances for the side.AB de Villiers
CricketArchive. Retrieved 22 June 2019.


Twenty20 franchise career

Since joining the league in its inaugural season, de Villiers has become one of the most successful batsmen in the
Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...
(IPL). After originally playing for
Delhi Daredevils Delhi Capitals (formerly Delhi Daredevils) are a franchise cricket team based out of Delhi in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is jointly owned by the GMR Group and the JSW Group. The team's home ground is Arun Jaitley Stadium, ...
, he moved to
Royal Challengers Bangalore Royal Challengers Bangalore (often abbreviated as RCB) are a franchise cricket team based in Bangalore, Karnataka, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). It was founded in 2008 by United Spirits and named after the company's liquor ...
(RCB) for US$1.5 million in the league's fourth season. Three of his four Twenty20 centuries have come in the IPL and he has played in over 150 matches in the league. Following his retirement from international cricket, his future in T20 franchise leagues was uncertain until he announced in July 2018 that he intended to continue to play in the IPL for "a few years". Ab De Villiers announced his retirement in on 19 November 2021 From
Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...
( after 14th edition of Indian Premier League) He said that he would rejoin RCB for the 2023 season, but not as a player. On 17 May 2022, de Villiers was inducted into the RCB Hall of Fame for his incredible contribution to the team from 2011 to 2021. Other than the IPL, de Villiers has played franchise T20 cricket for
Barbados Tridents The Barbados Royals (previously known as the Barbados Tridents) are the representative franchise cricket team of Barbados in the Caribbean Premier League. They are one of the six teams specifically created in 2013 for the inaugural season of t ...
,
Tshwane Spartans Tshwane Spartans were a city-based franchise team of the South African Mzansi Super League (MSL) Twenty20 cricket tournament. The team was based at SuperSport Park in Centurion. Tshwane Spartans played in the first two editions of the MLS in 2018 ...
, Rangpur Riders,
Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...
, Brisbane Heat and
Lahore Qalandars Lahore Qalandars ( ur, ; pnb, لہور قلندرز; abbreviated as LQ) is a Pakistani professional cricket franchise which plays in the Pakistan Super League, representing the city of Lahore. The home ground of the team is Gaddafi Stadium. ...
in leagues across the world. He has been criticised for his decision to play in franchise leagues rather than for his country.


Playing style

He is sometimes referred to as "Mr. 360" due to his ability to play shots all around the wicket, and as "Superman" due to his acrobatic fielding. In T20 cricket he is seen as an attacking batsman who plays a range of unconventional shots.


Personal life

De Villiers proposed to his girlfriend, Danielle Swart, at the
Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, ...
in 2012, after five years of dating. The couple got married on 30 March 2013, in Bela-Bela, South Africa. They have two sons and one daughter. He is a devout Christian and has stated that his faith is crucial to his approach to life. He is also an accomplished guitar player and a singer. In 2010, he released a bilingual pop album entitled '' Maak Jou Drome Waar'' with his friend and South African singer Ampie du Preez. His autobiography, ''AB de Villiers – the Autobiography'', was released in September 2016. He is the most-followed South African on
Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
. , url=https://briefly.co.za/18979-top-20-people-instagram-south-africa.html,


References


External links

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AB de Villiers
Howstat {{DEFAULTSORT:De Villiers, Abraham 1984 births Living people South Africa One Day International cricketers ACA African XI One Day International cricketers Titans cricketers Northerns cricketers Royal Challengers Bangalore cricketers South Africa Twenty20 International cricketers Afrikaner people Sportspeople from Pretoria Cricketers at the 2007 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 2011 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 2015 Cricket World Cup Delhi Capitals cricketers South Africa Test cricket captains Barbados Royals cricketers South African Christians Rangpur Rangers cricketers Lahore Qalandars cricketers Brisbane Heat cricketers Tshwane Spartans cricketers Wicket-keepers