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AB de Villiers

AB de Villiers: Mr 360 of cricket

by priyanka singh

AB de Villiers is a South African cricketer who has played for the Proteas since 2004. De Villiers is considered to be one of the best all rounders in world cricket, and he is also recognized as one of the sport’s most destructive batsmen – having scored 8 consecutive double centuries in international cricket. 

De Villiers was born on May 31, 1985, in Midrand, and attended The St Stithians College high school in Johannesburg before being selected by South Africa’s national selectors. He made his debut for South Africa against Sri Lanka on January 10th 2004, scoring a six over midwicket off Kumble’s bowling to win the match for his team by 7 wickets at Centurion Park.

About AB de Villiers

His birth

AB de Villiers (born 17 february 1984) is a South African international cricketer who plays for South Africa in all three formats of the game. De Villiers was born in Midrand, Gauteng.

His education

AB de Villiers attended the St Stithians College high school in Johannesburg before being selected by the national selectors to join South Africa’s national cricket team. 

His personal life

AB de Villiers marry Danielle de Villiers in february 2013, they have a 3 children, John Richard de Villiers, Yente de Villiers, Abraham de Villiers.

Professional career of AB de Villiers

AB de Villiers is one of the most successful cricketers in Proteas cricket history. De Villiers debuted for South Africa with his first class debut in 2004 against Sri Lanka at Centurion. He was selected to play for South Africa against England in 2006. De Villiers debuted in English Cricket League Division Two and made his Twenty20 debut for Middlesex in 2009. He has been named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year 2009.

Early career

AB de Villiers was selected for the South African Under-19 cricket team against England at the 2003/4 Youth Cricket World Cup held in India and Sri Lanka. He was part of the 2004 ICC Under-19 World Cup winning team in Bangladesh.

AB de Villiers made his international debut for South Africa in 2004, against Sri Lanka at Centurion Park. He scored a six over midwicket off Kumble’s bowling to win the match for his team by 7 wickets at Centurion Park.

During the first test of the 2006 series between the Proteas and England, De Villiers scored 134 runs in only 233 minutes, at a strike rate of 106.00 and with 9 fours and 2 sixes. This was the highest score by an opener against England since batting legend Don Bradman scored 151 runs against England in 1930–31.

AB de Villiers also scored his maiden test century in the second test at Lord’s, scoring 111 runs in only 156 minutes, at a strike rate of 105.66 with 10 fours and 2 sixes. His century came against Graeme Smith, who had scored a double century earlier in the match.

AB de Villiers’ first Test double century was in the third test of the 2006 series against England. De Villiers made his first international double century after scoring 246 not out off just 271 deliveries, with 19 fours and 5 sixes. This was a world record for the highest score by an opener against England in all forms of cricket at that time.

2007 Cricket World Cup in West Indies

AB de Villiers played for South Africa in the 2007 Cricket World Cup, scoring 2 half centuries in 4 matches. He scored 139 against the West Indies in the match that was won by South Africa. AB de Villiers also made 72 runs against Zimbabwe in the quarter finals of the Cricket World Cup to help his team win by 8 wickets. De Villiers became only the second batsman for South Africa to score centuries in 3 successive World Cup matches.

Gaining attention

After his first international double century, a lot of media coverage followed AB de Villiers and he was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year 2009. De Villiers was also included in ICC’s Test Team of the Year and ODI Team of the Year in 2007. 2008 Cricket World Cup.

AB de Villiers

De Villiers played the 2008 Cricket World Cup, making 22 runs in 4 matches. AB de Villiers also played against New Zealand, helping his team to a total of 209 runs and win the match by 73 runs.

Spin bowling

AB de Villiers has shown ability with the cricket ball and is a powerful hitter of the ball. He performing well against spin bowling. De Villiers has however struggled against legspin bowling and is susceptible to mistiming on the leg side. His Test batting average stands at 40.02, with 27 successful fifty centuries in Test cricket, and one century in ODI’s.

International career

AB de Villiers has played for South Africa in all three formats of the game. De Villiers debuted for South Africa with his first class debut in 2004 against Sri Lanka at Centurion Park. He was selected to play for South Africa against England in 2006. De Villiers debuted in English Cricket League Division Two and made his Twenty20 debut for Middlesex in 2009. He has been named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year 2009. 

2007 Cricket World Cup in West Indies

AB de Villiers played for South Africa in the 2007 Cricket World Cup, scoring 2 half centuries in 4 matches. He scored 139 against the West Indies in the match that was won by South Africa. He also made 72 runs against Zimbabwe in the quarter finals of the Cricket World Cup to help his team win by 8 wickets. De Villiers became only the second batsman for South Africa to score centuries in 3 successive World Cup matches.

2011 ICC Cricket World Cup in West Indies

AB de Villiers was part of the South African team that won the 2011 Cricket World Cup, playing in all 6 matches for his team. De Villiers made his highest score of 117 against England in the semi final match. De Villiers also completed his 2nd double century during this tournament. When he scored 199 not out against Bangladesh at Providence Stadium, Guyana during match 9 of the cricket world cup. 

2012 Test Series in England

AB de Villiers made history when he reached 5,000 runs in Test cricket during the third Test against England at Headingley. In the first innings of that match, he became the fastest batsman to reach 5,000 runs in Test cricket. De Villiers scored his fifth double century of his test career against England in Durban during 2012/13 summer.

AB de Villiers was Man of the Match as well as Man of the Series. Also set a new record for scoring most number of runs by a South African player in a single test series. In this series he achieved 4 hundreds and 3 half centuries. Where two were doubles while the one was a hundred. In this series he became the first batsman to score a hundred and a double hundred.

He overtook Jacques Kallis as the leading run-getter for South Africa in Test cricket.

In his next series against India, on 22 December 2012, at Newlands in Cape Town. De Villiers became the fastest batsman to reach 4,000 runs in Tests. He achieved this feat by reaching the mark in his 45th innings, beating Don Bradman’s record of 46 innings.

Announce Retirement

In February 2015, AB de Villiers announced his retirement from all international cricket. He stated that he had informed the South African national team selection panel. As well as Cricket South Africa (CSA) of his decision. The third test match against India in Pretoria was his last match. De Villiers stated that he did not want to carry on playing international cricket. If it felt like a job rather than a passion. For this reason, it was time for him to retire.

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