AB de Villiers

In this article, the surname is de Villiers, not Villiers.
AB de Villiers
de Villiers in 2006
Personal information
Full name
Abraham Benjamin de Villiers
Born (1984-02-17) 17 February 1984 (age 40)
Pretoria, Transvaal Province, South Africa
NicknameMr. 360, ABD[1]
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight arm medium
RoleWicket-keeper-batter
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 296)17 December 2004 v England
Last Test30 March 2018 v Australia
ODI debut (cap 78)2 February 2005 v England
Last ODI16 February 2018 v India
ODI shirt no.17
T20I debut (cap 20)24 February 2006 v Australia
Last T20I29 October 2017 v Bangladesh
T20I shirt no.17
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2003/04Northerns
2004/05–2017/18Titans
2008–2010Delhi Daredevils (squad no. 17)
2011–2021Royal Challengers Bangalore (squad no. 17)
2016Barbados Tridents (squad no. 17)
2018Tshwane Spartans (squad no. 17)
2019Rangpur Riders (squad no. 17)
2019Lahore Qalandars (squad no. 17)
2019Middlesex (squad no. 17)
2019/20Brisbane 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 the best batsman of his era, dominating the Number 1 ranking for batsmen in tests & ODIs more than any other batsman of his era.[4][5][6] 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.[7] 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.[8] In limited overs cricket, he is an attacking player.[9] 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[10] and in May 2018, he announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket.[11][12][13] In January 2020, however, de Villiers expressed an interest in making an international comeback and play in the 2020 T20 World Cup,[14] although later in the year it was confirmed that he would not do so.[15][16][17] On 19 November 2021, de Villiers announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.[18] In October 2024, de Villiers became the 8th South African cricketer to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame.[19][20]

  1. ^ "AB de Villiers retires: What made Mr. 360 a modern-day great". India Today. 23 May 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  2. ^ "de Villiers wins ODI Player of Year Award". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  3. ^ "Virat Kohli, four others find place in Wisden cricketers of the decade list". Hindustan Times. 26 December 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  4. ^ "Rankings". icc-cricket.com. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  5. ^ "AB de Villiers best of his generation: South Africa batsman retires from international cricket". sportskeeda. 23 May 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  6. ^ "AB de Villiers better than fab 4". circleofcricket. 16 October 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  7. ^ Sen, Rohan (23 May 2018). "AB de Villiers retires: What made Mr. 360 a modern-day great". India Today. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  8. ^ Rajesh, S.; Jayaraman, Shiva (23 May 2018). "AB de Villiers: A genius in two formats". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  9. ^ "The men's ODI XI of the last 25 years". ESPNcricinfo. 18 June 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  10. ^ "De Villiers steps down as ODI captain, available for Tests". ESPNcricinfo. 23 August 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  11. ^ Moonda, Firdose (23 May 2018). "'Tired' AB de Villiers retires from international cricket". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  12. ^ "AB de Villiers: South Africa batsman retires from international cricket". BBC Sport. 23 May 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  13. ^ "AB de Villiers retires: Twitter hails 'Superman' of cricket". The Week. 23 May 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  14. ^ Moonda, Firdose (15 January 2020). "Du Plessis keen on de Villiers return before T20 World Cup". Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  15. ^ "AB de Villiers will not come out of international retirement, confirms Cricket South Africa". Hindustan Times. 18 May 2021. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  16. ^ "'Play for India' - Twitter goes berserk after AB de Villiers confirms retirement 'once and for all'". CricTracker. 19 May 2021. Archived from the original on 21 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  17. ^ "AB de Villiers decides 'his retirement will remain final' - CSA". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  18. ^ "AB de Villiers announces retirement from all forms". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  19. ^ icc (16 October 2024). "Hall of Fame inductee de Villiers hailed 'most talented cricketer I have played with' by Virat Kohli". www.icc-cricket.com. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
  20. ^ "Alastair Cook, Neetu David, AB de Villiers inducted into ICC Hall of Fame". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 October 2024.