24 Facts about AB de Villiers – The SuperMan of Cricket

This man AB de Villiers needs no introduction. Perhaps the greatest batsman of modern day cricket, de Villiers has absolutely mastered the art of batting. He has redefined the terms of batting with his innovative shot play and can hit the ball to any part of the ground, 360 degrees! His staggering records are a testimonial of how much this man has changed the way cricket is being played in this era. You might think you know enough about him, but there is absolutely no limit to how much this humble human being can amaze you. Here are 24 facts about AB de Villiers.

1. Early life:

Abraham Benjamin de Villiers was born on 17 February 1984 at Pretoria in South Africa. He attended a public school in Pretoria that was named Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Afrikaans High School for Boys, also known as Affies). Jacques Rudolph and Faf du Plessis also attended the same school.

2. Nicknames galore:

He is loved by people all around the world. He has the same aura as Sachin Tendulkar had in his playing days. He is affectionately called as AB, ABD, Mr. 360, and Superman. Chants of ABD is common whenever he plays at Chinaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru for RCB.

3. Playing style:

AB de Villiers is a right handed batsman who is renowned to play shots 360 degrees around the ground. His brutal force and sheer timing is the key to his success. He is highly innovative, so much so that he can even sweep the fast bowlers at will. He is a medium pace part time bowler too with the best of 2/15 in ODIs. He keeps wickets for his side as well and is more than just efficient behind the stumps. He is an absolute live wire on the field and is one of the best fielders in the game today.

4. The multi-sports guy!

He is a thorough all-rounder, not just on the cricket field but also in quite a lot of other sports too. AB de Villiers started off as a hockey player in the U16 category in his school. Soon he was shortlisted for his South Africa’s junior National Hockey team. AB is the holder of six South African school swimming records. He was also a part of the school’s rugby team, the 1st XV of the Affies. He was exceptional at the sport and was selected for the Blue Bulls U-18 side, which had some of the South African National players. AB de Villiers did not stop there, he also represented the national U19 Badminton team. AB was a member of South Africa Junior Davis Cup Tennis Team. And to add to it, he was an extremely fit athlete, having won quite a few 100-meter races at school. AB loves Golf too and is no rookie at the sport!

5. Well, not just Sports…

AB de Villiers was not only into sports but also good at academics. A decent student at academics at school, ABD is a recipient of the prestigious national medal from the Late Nelson Mandela for a science project. AB de Villiers has confessed that he always wanted to study medicine and become a doctor and also quoted that he actually regrets not being able to study medicine.

6. Early cricket life and first-class debut:

AB was a part of South Africa U19 team in 2002 and soon was picked up to play for Titans in domestic circuit. Playing for the Northern’s against the Western Province, de Villiers made his debut in 2003. He scored 58 in the first innings and followed it up with 61 in the second innings. He also played for Carrickfergus Cricket Club in Northern Ireland as their overseas player in 2004.

7. International debut:

Riding on his prolific domestic record, AB de Villiers made his Test debut against England at Port Elizabeth. He had an ordinary debut and couldn’t make a mark then. Dale Steyn also made his debut in the same match. In his second match, he scored a half century.

8. Maiden Test ton:

3 matches later, AB de Villiers scored his maiden Test ton against England, 109 off 169 balls at Centurion in a drawn game.

9. Bitter-sour memories of 2007:

The ICC World Cup 2007 gave de Villiers some bitter sour memories. Having scored 4 ducks in the tournament, an infamous record of most ducks in a series, his place was already being questioned. But then he came up with his maiden ODI ton against West Indies, scoring 146 off 130 balls to silence all critics.

10. Double ton against India and heroics at Leeds:

During South Africa’s tour to India in 2008, he became the first South African to score a double century against India. He scored an unbeaten 217. The same year, playing at Leeds against England, he batted in front of a booing crowd to score a magnificent 174 in the first innings and followed it up with 97 in the 2nd innings.

11. Historic win at Perth:

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. After hitting a 63 in the first innings, he scored an unbeaten 106 off 186 balls to his side home. He also took 4 superb catches in that match.

12. Most Test matches without registering a duck:

AB de Villiers holds the record for most Test innings without registering a duck (78), before being dismissed for a duck against Bangladesh in November 2008.

13. Most sixes in an ODI innings:

AB de Villiers is the joint record holder for hitting most sixes in an ODI innings, 16 sixes, with Rohit Sharma and Chris Gayle. He achieved this feat against West Indies during his historic knock of 149.

14. Six hitting spree in World Cup:

He is the record holder for most sixes in Cricket World Cups (50 overs). He is the joint leader in the list with Chris Gayle, as both of them have 37 sixes to their name. AB hit 21 sixes in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.

15. The Big Stage Man: Successive tons and stunning averages:

AB de Villiers has a very successful record in the World Cups. During the 2011 World Cup, he hit two successive tons and became the first South African to do so. He has 3 Man of the Match awards to his name in World Cups, the second best by a South African after Lance Klusener’s 5. During the 2015 World Cup, de Villiers led his side to the semi-finals. He scored 162 off 66 against West Indies to hit the fastest 150 in ODIs. He ended the tournament as the third highest run-getter with 482 runs at an average of 96.

16. Fastest to almost everything!

He holds the records for the fastest 50 (16 balls), 100 (31 balls) and 150 (64 balls) in One Day Internationals, and also the fastest hundred by a South African in Tests and the fastest 50 by South African in T20Is. He scored a century in 31 balls, eventually ending up with 149 off 44 balls against West Indies at the Wanderers. A month later, he scored 162 off 66 balls, to hit the fastest 150.

17. Love for West Indies bowling:

AB de Villiers certainly has some affection towards West Indian bowling. He has staggering records against West Indies. The fastest ODI ton and the fastest ODI 150 have come from his bat against the West Indian side. Having played 21 matches against them, as on 17 February 2016, he has hit 1219 runs at an average of 76.18 with 5 centuries. He has hit 5 ODI tons against India too!

18. 50 sixes in a year:

De Villiers, during his course of 119 off 61 balls against India at Wankhede stadium in 2015, crossed the mark of 50 sixes in a calendar year in ODIs. He broke the 13-year-old record set by Shahid Afridi, 48 sixes, in the year 2002.

19. ICC Player of the Year:

He was named ICC ODI player of the year not just once but thrice. He won the award in 2010, 2014 & 2015.

20. Prolific IPL career and love saga with Bengaluru:

AB de Villiers started his IPL career playing for the Delhi Daredevils. He scored his maiden ton in the 2nd edition of the tournament. In the fourth season of Indian Premier League, he was contracted by Royal Challengers Bangalore for US$1.1 million. His second ton came for the RCB when he smashed 133 off 59 balls against Mumbai Indians. The most noticeable thing was the chants of ABD whenever RCB played in Bengaluru. He played his 100th Test match at Bengaluru and was absolutely delighted at the prospect and said he considers Bengaluru as his second home.

21. The song lover:

AB de Villiers is a multi-talented guy. He is a singer and has his own band of performers with whom he sings. AB even performed at ICC Awards on a few occasions. He even released a song titled ‘Show them who you are’, which became really popular and was sung as an anthem when South Africa triumphed against Australia in 2009. In 2010, AB de Villiers collaborated with South African Ampie Du Preez for his their debut music album named “Maak Jou Drome Waar” (Make Your Dreams Come True). During an interview with Siddharth Mallya, the co-owner of Royal Challengers Bangalore, he even sang a Hindi song, “Yeh dosti hum nai todenge (We won’t break this friendship).”

22. Faith in god:

Not many would know but AB de Villiers has deep faith in god. He says that his favorite book is the Bible. During South Africa’s historic run chase of 414 in a Test match at Perth against Australia in 2008/09, he pointed to the sky after bringing up his ton. He later revealed that he had read the Bible and prayed and it was god who helped him through high fever and nausea and gave him the strength to score the biggest century of his life.

23. Personal Life: What’s in a name?

AB de Villiers is named after his father Dr. Abraham Benjamin de Villiers and shares the same name. He got married to Danielle de Villiers. His love story is awe-inspiring. AB proposed Danielle at the Taj Mahal in India, a place regarded as the symbol of love. The couple have a son and they have named him Abraham after his own name!

24. His favorites:

When it comes to sports, AB de Villiers absolutely loves Tennis ace Roger Federer. He is an ardent fan of football club Manchester United. His love for the songs is unprecedented. He loves listening to Snow Patrol and Collective Soul.