AB de Villiers: Mr 360: Part One

 

"Talent is an overused word. What does it mean to have talent? Is it the ability to hit the ball further than someone else? What we consider as talent to someone else is just normal. I tell you what talent is, it is to be a scratch golfer and to be the best at rugby, hockey, tennis and swimming. It is to be the man described as the greatest batsman that cricket has ever seen. If you are all those things, you are talented, you are AB de Villiers"  -Nasser Hussain 

 

Abraham Benjamin de Villiers, a right-handed batsman, was born on February 17, 1984, in Pretoria, the administrative capital of South Africa, just like his fellow teammate Faf du Plessis. He is the son of Abraham B de Villiers and Millie de Villiers. Not only is he a remarkable cricketer, but he also excelled in rugby, golf, and tennis. AB de Villiers is a bona fide South Africa cricketing legend. Known for his extraordinary versatility, known as Mr 360 he can strike any delivery, anywhere, against any bowler. 

 

He kicked off his career with a stint in South Africa's under-19 team before making his debut for the Titans during the 2003/2004 season. At just 20 years old, AB stepped onto the Test stage for the first time on November 16 against England in what was then known as Port Elizabeth, now Gqeberha. He highlighted his talent as an opening batsman but was later moved down the batting order for the second Test, where he also took on the role of wicketkeeper. Despite the minor setback he delivered a crucial half-century while batting at number seven, helping to save the match. However, AB found himself at the top of the order for the final match of the series.  

 

Despite a good tour of the Caribbean, he scored 178 to help South Africa seal a test series win although his progress was slowed on the tour of Australia in 2005. After playing the late, great Shane Warne well and becoming the second- youngest AND the second-fastest South African to reach 1000 Test runs after one of South Africa's greatest cricket players Graeme Pollock, he struggled and made just 152 runs in 6 innings. But he was back in form soon when he gave the selectors a sign by producing a score of 92 not out against India in the 2006 at SuperSport Park.  

 

Whilst being a standout batter, he had a reputation as an outstanding fielder, which was shown through his superman-esque diving run of Simon Katich of Australia in 2006. He dived to stop the ball whilst laying on his stomach facing away from the stumps facing away, he tossed the ball backwards and effected a direct hit.  

 

Throughout the preliminary group stages of the 2007 ODI World Cup, ending up with a total of 154 runs against Scotland and Australia. In the opening match he went for a duck with a score of 0/2 against the Dutch. Throughout the Super Eight he scored his maiden ODI century against the West Indies before getting caught by Shivnarine Chanderpaul at Short Leg. Although his poor form against the Netherlands carried through as through the Super Eight, he went for ducks against Sri Lanka, Ireland and New Zealand, but amassed 203 runs throughout the Super Eight which took him to 357 runs through the series. The Proteas took on Australia in the Semi-Final where de Villiers went for 15/34 before getting caught by the first of the three wicket keeper catches by Adam Gilchrist.  

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