Full Name: Abraham Benjamin de Villiers
Date of Birth: 17th February 1984
Place of Birth: Pretoria, Transvaal Province, South Africa
Nick Name: AB, Abbas
Height: 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Batting Style: Right-Handed
Bowling Style: Right–Arm Off-Spin
Role: Batsman, Wicket-Keeper
Test Debut: 17th December 2004 v England
ODI Debut: 2nd February 2005 v England
Abraham Benjamin de Villiers more commonly known by his initials AB is a South African cricketer and captain of the South African One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 teams,having succeeded Graeme Smith in both roles after the 2011 Cricket World Cup. AB de Villiers is also part of Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League.
De Villiers is a right-handed batsman, who, in a very short space of time, has accumulated many runs in Tests including centuries against England, India, the West Indies and Australia. AB de Villiers has been dismissed in the 90s on five occasions in Tests. AB de Villiers still holds the record for most Test innings without registering a duck (78), before being dismissed for nought against Bangladesh in November 2008. AB de Villiers also holds the record for the highest individual score by a South African batsman in an innings, with 278*. AB de Villiers is an occasional wicketkeeper for the South African cricket team, and is commonly regarded as one of the best fielders currently in international cricket. AB de Villiers blasted the seventh fastest century in ODI cricket, in 58 balls, when he slammed an unbeaten 102 off just 59 balls against India in Ahmedabad in February 2010.
Cricket Career
AB de Villiers made his test debut as a 20 year old on 16 December 2004 against England at Port Elizabeth. AB de Villiers made an 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 and has played the majority of his tests there. Since then he has not missed a Test match and has also batted down the order in some tests leading to speculation that he may possibly take the place of Mark Boucher as the wicket-keeper/batsman when Boucher retires, although de Villiers has himself expressed a preference for playing as a specialist batsman only.
Despite a good tour of the Caribbean where he scored 178 to help South Africa seal a test series win, his rapid progress was halted on the tour of Australia in 2005. Despite playing Shane Warne well, he struggled and made just 152 runs in 6 innings. De Villiers holds the record for scoring most Test runs before getting out for a duck.
De Villiers has 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 as he was also one of the finest fielders of his generation.
In 2009 AB de Villiers was nominated for ICC Cricketer of the year and ICC Test Player of the year.
On June 6, 2011, New SA coach Gary Kirsten announced that AB de Villiers will be South Africa's new limited-overs captain, at a news conference. "I'm very excited but I'm also inexperienced. But I've learnt a lot the last seven years from an unbelievable captain," De Villiers, who has never captained a team at first-class level, said. "It's a big responsibility, but there'll be a fresh look in the side, which is good.
Coming into the 2007 Cricket World Cup he was in career best form in ODIs having hit four 50s during the South Africa vs India/Pakistan(2007) matches.
In the early stages of the tournament his form was poor with three failures including a duck against the Netherlands in a match where his team broke various records for batting. AB de Villiers talent was shown in a 92 in the first round against Australia which was made in a high pressure situation. Indeed it was around the time De Villiers got out (run out from the boundary by Shane Watson) when South Africa lost their way and went on to lose the game.
AB de Villiers highest innings to date in ODIs came in the Super 8 game against West Indies on 10 April. AB de Villiers made his maiden ODI hundred, 146 from just 130 balls including 5 sixes and 12 fours. This was despite batting with a runner for the latter stages of his innings and seemingly finding every shot painful due to a combination of cramps, heat exhaustion and dehydration. AB de Villiers innings consisted of a second wicket partnership of 170 with Jacques Kallis and a third wicket partnership of 70 with Herschelle Gibbs the latter of which was dominated by De Villiers batting on one leg. De Villiers innings set-up a total of 356/4 from 50 overs.
2008, On 4 April 2008 he became the first South African to score a double century against India with his top score of 217*.
De Villiers scored an obdurate 174 that helped set up a ten-wicket win for South Africa in the second Test against England at Headingley Carnegie in Leeds in July 2008. This was followed by a 97 at The Oval before he came down the wicket trying to smash Panesar for a boundary and was clean bowled.Tour of Australia 2008/09
AB de Villiers with the gloves.In the first Test in Perth, De Villiers scored a matchwinning 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 and appeared to go a long way towards tilting world cricket's balance of power after over a decade of Australian dominance. De Villiers also took four diving catches in the course of the match, including one to dismiss Jason Krejza, a stunner at backward point.
De Villiers only scored 11 runs though in the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and made another low score in the first innings of the final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. In the second innings of that Test though, De Villiers scored a patient half-century as South Africa almost held on for an against-the-odds draw.
In the 4th ODI in Adelaide he played as wicketkeeper after Boucher was ruled out. AB de Villiers then scored 82 not out from 85 balls with 6 fours and a six to win the series and was named man of the match.
Return Series, Johannesburg 2009, In the first Test at the Wanderers Stadium, De Villiers provided lone resistance in the first innings against a bowling attack led by pace bowler, Mitchell Johnson, scoring 104* of 185 balls with 9 fours and 1 six, whilst his teammates all fell for under 50. But in the second innings he made only 3 of 7.
In the third test, after centuries from Ashwell Prince and Jacques Kallis, de Villiers became the third centurion of the innings with a score of 163 off 196 balls with 12 fours and 7 sixes. This knock also tied the record of most sixes in an over as de Villiers, off a McDonald over, hit four consecutive sixes.
In the following 5 game ODI series, de Villiers played consistently, although starting badly in the first game, scoring only 2 runs. However, he went on to make 36*, 80, 84, and 38, and was named Player of the Series at the conclusion of game 5.
AB de Villiers was rested for the two-match Twenty20 series against Zimbabwe and because Mark Boucher was injured as well Heino Kuhn donned the keeping gloves. de Villiers returned for the series against and also took over the gloves a still recovering Mark Boucher and did well against Zimbabwe scoring two centuries out of the three ODI's as South Africa won the three match series 3-0 comfortably.
Against Pakistan in October 2010
AB de Villiers major challenge came against Pakistan where for the two Twenty20 matches he was in charge of the gloves. In the first match he was out for a second-ball duck courtesy of a superb delivery by Shoaib Akhtar. In the second T20I he scored 11 runs. AB de Villiers then participated in the five-match ODI series where South Africa were chasing 203 to win and he scored 51 before he was caught and bowled by Saeed Ajmal. In the second ODI he scored 29 as he was bowled by Shahid Afridi in the same match a flamboyant Abdul Razzaq played the greatest innings of his life to lift Pakistan to an unbelivable victory. During the third match he scored 19 before he was stumped by Zulqarnain Haider it turned out to be a mistake by the umpire as he had pressed the wrong button. In the fourth match he missed out on a half-century while on 49 when he gifted his wicket to the fielder at point. AB de Villiers good form in the series continued when he scored 61 in the final ODI as South Africa won by 57 runs and the series 3-2.
In the fourth season of Indian Premier League, he was contracted by Royal Challengers Bangalore for US$1.1 million. He played for the Delhi Daredevils in the previous seasons.
ICC World Cup 2011
AB de Villiers scored two successive centuries in the 2011 World Cup. AB de Villiers became the first South African to score two centuries in a single World Cup and the fifth batsman after Mark Waugh, Saeed Anwar, Rahul Dravid and Matthew Hayden to score two consecutive centuries in a single World Cup tournament. AB de Villiers also became the 16th batsman to score two or more centuries in one World Cup tournament. AB de Villiers' strike rate of 136.73 is the highest among South African batsmen who have scored centuries in World Cup matches. With his third player of the match award in World Cups, de Villiers is joint second with Jacques Kallis on the list of South African players with most match awards in World Cups. Lance Klusener heads the list with five awards.
2011–Present
In the 2011–12 South African summer, de Villiers featured in the home series against Australia and against Sri Lanka. In the latter, he scored a century (160 not out) in South Africa's win in the third and deciding Test of the series. AB de Villiers was named the player of the series, having scored 353 runs at an average of 117.66. AB de Villiers then led South Africa for his first series since being appointed captain of the One Day International team. In his first match as captain, South Africa inflicted the heaviest defeat in Sri Lanka's history, with a 258-run win in Paarl on 11 January 2012. It was also the largest margin of victory (by runs) in an ODI match between two Test-playing teams. South Africa went on to win the ODI series, and de Villiers was named player of the series, having scored 329 runs at an average of 109.66, including a century (125 not out) in the fifth and final match in Johannesburg.Statistics
Test Centuries AB de Villiers's
Test Centuries
No. Runs Match Against City/Country Venue Year
1 109 5 England Centurion, South Africa SuperSport Park 2005
2 178 10 West Indies Bridgetown, Barbados Kensington Oval 2005
3 114 11 West Indies St John's, Antigua Antigua Recreation Ground 2005
4 103* 35 West Indies Durban, South Africa Sahara Stadium Kingsmead 2008
5 217* 39 India Ahmedabad, India Sardar Patel Stadium 2008
6 174 42 England Leeds, England Headingley Cricket Ground 2008
7 106* 47 Australia Perth, Australia WACA Ground 2008
8 104* 50 Australia Johannesburg, South Africa Wanderers Stadium 2009
9 163 52 Australia Cape Town, South Africa Newlands Cricket Ground 2009
10 135* 60 West Indies Basseterre, St Kitts Warner Park 2010
11 278* 63 Pakistan Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium 2010
12 129 64 India Centurion, South Africa SuperSport Park 2010
13 160* 71 Sri Lanka Cape Town, South Africa Newlands Cricket Ground 2012
One Day International Centuries
# Runs Match Against City Venue Year
1 146 38 West Indies St. George's, Grenada Queen's Park 2007
2 107 51 Zimbabwe Harare, Zimbabwe Harare Sports Club 2007
3 103* 52 Pakistan Lahore, Pakistan Gaddafi Stadium 2007
4 121 92 England Cape Town, South Africa Newlands Cricket Ground 2009
5 114* 95 India Gwalior, India Roop Singh Stadium 2010
6 102* 96 India Ahmedabad, India Sardar Patel Stadium 2010
7 102 97 West Indies North Sound, Antigua Sir Vivian Richards Stadium 2010
8 101* 103 Zimbabwe Potchefstroom, South Africa Senwes Park 2010
9 109 104 Zimbabwe Benoni, South Africa Willowmoore Park 2010
10 107* 115 West Indies Delhi, India Feroz Shah Kotla 2011
11 134 116 Netherlands Mohali, India PCA Stadium 2011
12 125* 120 Sri Lanka Johannesburg, South Africa New Wanderers Stadium 2012
Career Best Performances As of 21 November 2010
Batting Bowling Score Fixture Venue Season Score Fixture Venue Season
Tests 278* South Africa v Pakistan Abu Dhabi 2010- 2-49 South Africa v West Indies St. John's 2005
ODI 146 South Africa v West Indies St. George's 2007 n/a
T20I 79* South Africa v Scotland The Oval 2009 n/a
FC 217* South Africa v India Ahmedabad 2008 n/a
LA 146 South Africa v West Indies St. George's 2007 n/a
T20 105* Delhi Daredevils v Chennai Super Kings Durban 2009 n/a
Education
AB attended Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Afrikaans High School for Boys, also known as Affies), a public school located in Pretoria. AB de Villiers attended alongside Jacques Rudolph and Heino Kuhn, fellow Titans and South African international cricketers, and Francois du Plessis, a Titans cricketer.
Personal Life
A devout Christian, he has stated that his faith is crucial to his approach to life. AB de Villiers has said "Jesus is everything in my life – he's the man", and "My faith means more to me than playing for my country. It comes first."
AB de Villiers mother is called Millie and works in real estate and his father, Abraham Benjamin, is a medical doctor. AB de Villiers has two brothers called Jan and Wessels and used to play cricket with them and Martin van Jaarsveld when he was younger. AB de Villiers is also an avid fan of English football club Manchester United
AB de Villiers official website is http://abdevilliers.com/
Singer-songwriter
Instruments Guitar
Vocals
Years Active 2008–Present
Labels Sony BMG
Associated acts Ampie du Preez
Website AB de Villiers Official Site
Main article: Maak Jou Drome Waar
AB de Villiers plays the guitar and sang the songs "Show Them Who You Are" and "Maak Jou Drome Waar" (Make Your Dreams Come True) with singer-songwriter Ampie du Preez.
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