Happy Birthday AB de Villiers: One of cricket’s finest ever batters, the legendary AB de Villiers, celebrates his birthday today. Born in Pretoria on February 17, 1984, the proud South African turns 42.
An extraordinary cricketer, De Villiers has his place etched in cricket history in golden letters. He boasts an unbelievable record at the international stage after having represented the Proteas in 114 Tests, 228 One-Day Internationals and 78 T20Is.
In a tremendous career, De Villiers made 8,765 runs in Tests at an average of 50.66 with 22 hundreds and the best score of 278 not out. Apart from being one of the greats of Test match cricket, he is one of the best ever limited-overs players the game has seen.
De Villiers has a mammoth 9,577 runs in 50-overs cricket at an astonishing average of 53.50 and strike-rate of 101.09. His tally of 1,672 runs in T20 Internationals also came at a strike-rate of 135.16.
De Villiers was much-loved in India for his prolonged and successful stint in the Indian Premier League, especially when he represented the popular Royal Challengers Bengaluru from IPL 2011 to 2021. His excellent record in the league speaks volumes of his class and belligerence with the bat. The ultimate match-winner compiled 5,162 runs in 184 matches at a strike-rate of 151.68.
AB de Villiers’ Best IPL Feats
Despite being assigned a challenging role in the middle order, De Villiers emerged as a consistent stroke-maker for RCB. Together with the great Virat Kohli, De Villiers became synonymous with the Bengaluru franchise in his heyday. Out of his 5,162 IPL runs, more than 4,000 came in RCB colours at an eye-catching strike-rate of 158.6.
De Villiers produced a massive 687 runs at an average of 52.8 and strike-rate of 168.8 with six fifties and a solitary hundred in IPL 2016, the year RCB reached the final but fell short of victory to Sunrisers Hyderabad.
De Villiers is the second highest-ever run-maker for RCB with 4,491 runs in 144 innings, behind only his great friend and former skipper Kohli with 7,263 runs.
With two centuries in his kitty for RCB, he is also only the third-highest centurion for the franchise after Kohli (7) and Chris Gayle (5).
De Villiers was an incredible contributor in RCB’s wins. He played in 61 victories for the franchise and hammered 2,557 runs at an amazing strike-rate of 177.94 while averaging 85.23.
Even in the twilight of his glorious career, De Villiers contributed massively to RCB’s fortunes. He smashed 767 runs in 28 innings of the IPL 2020 and 2021 in difficult conditions in the UAE and India, helping RCB make the play-offs in both seasons.
