Gifted athlete

A multi-talented sportsman, he was shortlisted for national hockey and football squads, dabbling in Tennis and Badminton and then choosing cricket.  

The ICC ODI player of the year has also received a national medal from Nelson Mandela.

Also a singer, he released an album called ‘Maak you drome waar’. (Make your dreams come true).
 

Childhood

Abraham Benjamin de Villiers was born on February 17, 1984 in Pretoria.

An alumnus of Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Afrikaans High School for Boys), he excelled in many sports, including rugby, badminton, hockey, football, tennis and golf. He still holds six national high-school-level swimming records and was the captain of SA junior rugby.

He has also received a national medal from Mandela for a science project.

Career

AB de Villiers made his test debut as a 20-year-old in 2004 against England. He made a solid 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 batting from number seven.

After a brief slump in form in 2006 and 2007, de Villiers returned the faith of his selectors with a blistering century against the West Indies.

He made his ODI debut against England in 2005. Although he enjoyed good run in tests, it took a while for de Villiers to find his footing in the 50-over format. He recorded his first half-century in his 15th attempt, against Australia. 

Once fully settled into the international stage, it was plain sailing for the right hander as he scored runs for fun.  It included a superb 278 against Pakistan in 2010.

AB de Villiers showed he had it in him to play according to the merits of the situation as well. With his team struggling to save the test against Australia in 2012, de Villiers resisted all his natural inhibitions as he blocked his way to 33 from 220 balls. In the next test, he showed his other side by dismantling the hosts with a smacking 169.

Consistent performances over the years gave the Proteas a new ODI captain in de Villiers. The task proved to be too difficult for the man and he gave up the captaincy in 2013.

AB de Villiers was a hot-buy in the Indian T20 League and he started off representing Delhi until he moved to Bangalore for the later seasons. He also represents the Titans in South Africa’s domestic T20 competition and has been an important player for all the three above teams. 

He is the holder of rather an unwanted record: most (4) duck outs in a particular ODI series (2007 Cricket World Cup).

Personal Life

He loves music, writing his songs and plays the guitar. He released an album with Ampie du Preez called ‘Maak you drome waar’. (Make your dreams come true).

A devout Christian, he has stated that his faith is crucial to his approach to life. He 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.”