AB de Villiers profile

AB de Villiers      

South Africa

Full name Abraham Benjamin de Villiers

Born February 17, 1984, Pretoria

Current age 29 years 360 days

Major teams South Africa, Africa XI, Delhi Daredevils, Northerns, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Titans

Playing role Wicketkeeper batsman

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Right-arm medium

Fielding position Wicketkeeper

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	89	148	16	6827	278*	51.71	12455	54.81	18	34	782	47	161	3
ODIs	159	153	25	6331	146	49.46	6746	93.84	16	36	572	109	134	3
T20Is	51	48	8	867	79*	21.67	715	121.25	0	4	67	26	47	6
First-class	115	193	21	8714	278*	50.66	15372	56.68	21	48			212	4
List A	191	184	28	7668	146	49.15			19	45			160	3
Twenty20	144	132	28	3060	105*	29.42	2302	132.92	1	17	241	108	103	15

Bowling averages

	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	89	5	204	104	2	2/49	2/49	52.00	3.05	102.0	0	0	0
ODIs	159	1	12	22	0	-	-	-	11.00	-	0	0	0
T20Is	51	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
First-class	115		234	138	2	2/49		69.00	3.53	117.0	0	0	0
List A	191		12	22	0	-	-	-	11.00	-	0	0	0
Twenty20	144	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Career statistics

Test debut	South Africa v England at Port Elizabeth, Dec 17-21, 2004 scorecard
Last Test	South Africa v India at Durban, Dec 26-30, 2013 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut	South Africa v England at Bloemfontein, Feb 2, 2005 scorecard
Last ODI	South Africa v India at Centurion, Dec 11, 2013 scorecard
ODI statistics
T20I debut	South Africa v Australia at Johannesburg, Feb 24, 2006 scorecard
Last T20I	South Africa v Pakistan at Cape Town, Nov 22, 2013 scorecard
T20I statistics
First-class debut	Northerns v Western Province at Centurion, Oct 17-20, 2003 scorecard
Last First-class	South Africa v India at Durban, Dec 26-30, 2013 scorecard
List A debut	Northerns v Eastern Province at Centurion, Nov 26, 2003 scorecard
Last List A	South Africa v India at Centurion, Dec 11, 2013 scorecard
Twenty20 debut	Titans v Lions at Centurion, Apr 8, 2004 scorecard
Last Twenty20	South Africa v Pakistan at Cape Town, Nov 22, 2013 scorecard

Recent matches

Bat & Bowl	Team	Opposition	Ground	Match Date	Scorecard
40*	South Africa	v Sth Afr XI	Johannesburg	4 Feb 2014	Other
5c/0s, 74, 2c/0s	South Africa	v India	Durban	26 Dec 2013	Test # 2111
4c/0s, 13, 0/5, 103	South Africa	v India	Johannesburg	18 Dec 2013	Test # 2108
109	South Africa	v India	Centurion	11 Dec 2013	ODI # 3444
3	South Africa	v India	Durban	8 Dec 2013	ODI # 3443
77	South Africa	v India	Johannesburg	5 Dec 2013	ODI # 3442
48*	South Africa	v Pakistan	Centurion	30 Nov 2013	ODI # 3441
74	South Africa	v Pakistan	Port Elizabeth	27 Nov 2013	ODI # 3440
10	South Africa	v Pakistan	Cape Town	24 Nov 2013	ODI # 3438
13	South Africa	v Pakistan	Cape Town	22 Nov 2013	T20I # 343

Profile

A batsman of breathtaking chutzpah and enterprise, as well as the skills and the temperament required to back up his creative intent. A fielder able to leap tall buildings and still come up with the catch. A wicketkeeper who is perfectly at ease donning pads and gloves. A fine rugby player, golfer, and tennis player. All AB de Villiers needs to show off his abundant gifts is a ball. Just about any ball.

Cricket should be pleased to have him. Few drive the ball as sweetly and to the boundary as regularly, and - in South Africa, at any rate - even fewer possess the silkily snappy footwork required to put spinners in their place. de Villiers is also among the fastest and the most instinctively sensible runners between the wickets. Marry all that with an approach to life that veers between laconic and laid back, and it isn't difficult to fathom why he has been afforded senior player status in the South African team years ahead of his time.

de Villiers' potential was recognised years before he made the leap to senior international level as an opening batsman against England at Port Elizabeth in 2004-05. He has batted everywhere from number one to number eight - with the important exception of number three - and has performed well in most of these positions.

After a brief slump in form in 2006 and 2007, de Villiers returned to the straight and narrow early in 2008 with a blistering 103 not out off 109 balls in Durban against West Indies. Later that year came one of de Villiers' career highlights, an undefeated 217 at Ahmedabad. It was the first double-century by a South African against India.

South Africans do not take easily to the precociously talented, but it helps if they do not come across all precocious. Such is the case with de Villiers, whose lazy smile under an every-which-way thatch of blond hair has helped convince the nation that he's worth feeding despite all that talent. The nation is not wrong.

de Villiers adjusts to the requirements of cricket's various formats as effortlessly as someone of his ample abilities should do. So much so that he has yet to fall victim to the curse of selection disputes, a curse that has struck even as accomplished a player as Jacques Kallis. Instead, as a career that should be in its adolescence by the mere measure of time and matches arches ever upward, the only question to be asked about de Villiers is how to deploy him to maximum effect.