Abraham benjamin de villiers

 

AB de Villiers

de Villiers during a training session in 2009
Personal information
Full name	Abraham Benjamin de Villiers
Born	17 February 1984 (age 37) Bela-Bela, Limpopo Province, South Africa
Nickname	Mr. 360, ABD, Alien, Superman[1]
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm medium
Role	Batsman, wicket-keeper
International information
National side	South Africa (2004–2018)
Test debut (cap 296)	17 December 2004 v England
Last Test	30 March 2018 v Australia
ODI debut (cap 78)	2 February 2005 v England
Last ODI	16 February 2018 v India
ODI shirt no.	17
T20I debut (cap 20)	24 February 2006 v Australia
Last T20I	29 October 2017 v Bangladesh
T20I shirt no.	17
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2003/04	Northerns
2004/05–2017/18	Titans
2008–2010	Delhi Daredevils (squad no. 17)
2011–present	Royal Challengers Bangalore (squad no. 17)
2016	Barbados Tridents (squad no. 17)
2018	Tshwane Spartans (squad no. 17)
2019	Rangpur Riders (squad no. 17)
2019	Lahore Qalandars (squad no. 17)
2019	Middlesex (squad no. 17)
2019/20	Brisbane 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 26.14 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 2/22 2/15 – 2/49 Catches/stumpings 222/5 176/5 65/7 500/6
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 29 January 2019

Abraham Benjamin de Villiers was born on 17 February 1984 in 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 Hore Seunskool in Pretoria along with teammate  Faf du Plessis who was and still remains his good friend. He is a high school graduate. His father was a doctor who had played rugby union in his youth, and he encouraged his son to play sports as a child.

International career

De Villiers in 2006

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 well and becoming the second-youngest and second-fastest South African to reach 1,000 Test runs after Graeme Pollock he struggled and made just 152 runs in 6 innings.

He has been used in a similar fashion to Jonty Rhodes 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 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.

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. He is popularly termed as "Aapatbandhava"(saviour) among RCB fans because of his ability to carry the batting effectively when there is a batting collapse.