AB de Villiers

Lore & Background

Abraham Benjamin de Villiers was born on 17 February 1984 in Warmbad (modern day 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 Hoër 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.

In Their Own Story

The floodlights hummed over a packed Kotla. Over four of the powerplay, the bowler steamed in, aiming wide of off to pin AB back. The ball pitched a fraction fuller than intended. AB didn't even adjust his stance. The bat swung through the outside edge, the willow connecting with the seam at a perfect angle, and the ball rocketed square of the keeper — not over, not around, but *through* the gap between mid-off and mid-on, landing in the second tier with a soft thud that the crowd felt in their seats. He watched it go, already turning back toward the bowler's end. The Delhi stand, three rows deep, erupted. He didn't celebrate. He simply tapped the bat on his thigh and waited for the next delivery, as if he had just played a gentle drive down the ground.

Reader's Guide

De Villiers is a right-handed batter who accumulated 8765 runs in Tests including 22 centuries and 46 fifties. He holds the record for most Test innings without registering a duck (78), before being dismissed for naught against Bangladesh in November 2008. He also holds the second-highest individual score by a South African batsman, with an unbeaten 278. Until 2012 he was an occasional wicket-keeper for South Africa, although after the retirement of regular Test keeper Mark Boucher and under his own captaincy he started to regularly keep wicket for the national team in Tests, ODIs and T20Is. He gave up wicket-keeping in 2015 and handed the gloves to debutant Quinton de Kock. He holds the records for the fastest 50 (16 balls), 100 (31 balls) and 150 (64 balls) of all time in One Day Internationals by any batsmen, and also holds the fastest hundred by a South African in Tests and the fastest 50 by South African in T20Is. He is a three-time ICC ODI player of the year, winning the award in 2010, 2014 and 2015. After the 2011 Cricket World Cup he succeeded Graeme Smith as captain of the national ODI team, and became Test captain after the second Test of the home series against England in 2015/16. He stepped down from Test captaincy in December 2016 due to an elbow injury which kept him out of the team for a long period. He made his Test debut as a 20-year-old on 16 November 2004 against England at Port Elizabeth. He made his maiden ODI hundred, 146 from just 130 balls including 5 sixes and 12 fours, in the Super 8 game against West Indies on 10 April 2007. On 4 April 2008, de Villiers became the first South African to score a double century against India with his top score of 217.

Did You Know?

• He holds the records for the fastest 50 (16 balls), 100 (31 balls) and 150 (64 balls) in ODIs.
• He is the first South African to score a double century against India.
• He was named ICC Men's ODI Cricketer of the Year in 2010, 2014, and 2015.
• He was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2024.