ICC pays a fitting tribute to the 'Amazing' AB de Villiers

Arguably one of the greatest cricketers of all time, AB de Villiers’ retirement really sent shock waves across the fraternity with everyone gasping in disbelief. Tributes have been pouring in from across the globe to celebrate his 14-year legendary career, which saw the game change quite drastically.

De Villiers too played a significant part in this metamorphosis. His outrageous cricketing shots like coming on to the knee to a fast bowler and just helping the cherry reach the fence behind the sticks and many more saw a lot of other young cricketers copy this inimitable legend.

He could hit a full-length delivery on leg stump over covers for a six and could do the same to a ball pitching on the off-stump wide line over square leg. His range of shots and sheer audacity to taunt the bowlers made him one of the modern day greats, leading to comparisons with few of the very greats like Sir Vivian Richards.

ICC bids a fitting tribute to the genius

The International Cricket Council‘s official twitter handle posted a tweet reminiscing people of the incredible records which AB de Villiers holds in International cricket. De Villiers was awarded the ICC ODI Player of the Year award thrice in 2010, 2014, and 2015.

He also holds the record for the fastest 50, fastest 100 and the fastest 150, all of them coming against the West Indies. He scored the fastest 50 and 100 in the same game at Johannesburg where toyed with the Caribbean bowlers. In the 2015 World Cup, he clobbered their bowlers once again to register the fastest 150 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

He’s an outright legend of South African cricket and the numbers justify that fact. He’s their second highest run-scorer in ODIs, second only to the immortal Jacques Kallis. He’s also the second highest run-scorer for them in the shortest format and ranks third in Tests. The caption for the tweet read “The Legend – Simply Remarkable,” which pretty much defines his legacy.

Here’s the tweet by ICC

The legend – @ABdeVilliers17. Simply remarkable.#ABRetires pic.twitter.com/oowBCvIDWt

— ICC (@ICC) May 25, 2018