Full Name

Abraham Benjamin de Villiers

Born

February 17, 1984, Pretoria

Age

40y 31d

Batting Style

Right hand Bat

Bowling Style

Right arm Medium

Fielding Position

Wicketkeeper

Playing Role

Wicketkeeper Batter

A 360-degree batter who could hit any ball anywhere, against any bowler, AB de Villiers was a bona fide South African great: a cricketer with overflowing talent and the temperament to back it up, a fielder able to leap tall buildings and still come up with the catch - and who could happily assume the wicketkeeper's spot if needed. As if all that wasn't enough, he was also a fine rugby player, golfer, and tennis player.

De Villiers broke the world record for the fastest ODI hundred in 2015, getting to the milestone off 31 balls in a breathtaking innings that included the fastest ODI fifty as well as 16 sixes, also the world record at that time. He was South Africa's leading run-scorer (and captain) in the World Cup that followed but couldn't take them past the semi-final stage.

De Villiers made his Test debut as an opener against England in 2004 (in the same match as Dale Steyn), when he was picked after only 16 first-class matches. He was later moved into the middle order and asked to keep wicket, which he did successfully: he batted everywhere from No. 1 to No. 8 and performed well in most of those positions.

After a brief slump in form in 2006 and 2007, he returned early in 2008 with a blistering 103 not out in the Durban Test against West Indies. Later that year he became the first South African to score a double-century against India in an innings win in Ahmedabad. He followed that with 174 at Headingley and 106 not out in Perth, in South Africa's first series wins in the two countries since readmission. That was de Villiers' best Test year, with 1061 runs at 58.94.

He came close to those heights again in 2010, when he scored 996 runs, and in 2013, when he made 933. His 278 not out against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi in 2010 was the highest individual score by a South African in Test cricket until Hashim Amla made a triple two years later. By then, de Villiers was South Africa's full-time Test wicketkeeper after Mark Boucher's retirement, as well as the ODI and T20I captain.

He was relieved from keeping duties once Quinton de Kock made it into the international side, and although he was appointed the Test captain in 2016 after Amla stepped down, de Villiers didn't actually assume the role. He ruled himself out of Test cricket for most of 2017 and in May 2018, retired from international cricket with the words "I am tired".

Outside of South African colours, de Villiers was also a batting legend in T20 leagues worldwide, especially in the IPL for Royal Challengers Bangalore - for whom he made nearly 5000 runs at a strike rate of 158.63 in 11 seasons. After the 2021 IPL, de Villiers announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.

AB de Villiers Career Stats

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAveBFSR100s50s4s6sCtSt
Tests114191188765278*50.661607754.5122461024642225
ODIs22821839957717653.509473101.0925538402041765
T20Is787511167279*26.121237135.1601014060657
FC1412382310689278*49.711902656.182560--2756
List A263252441112317653.47--2963--2035
T20s340320679424133*37.246277150.1346975343623018

Bowling

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
Tests114520410422/492/4952.003.05102.0000
ODIs228919220272/152/1528.856.3127.4000
T20Is78------------
FC141-23413822/49-69.003.53117.0000
List A263-19220272/152/1528.856.3127.4000
T20s340------------
Abraham Benjamin de Villiers

Explore Statsguru Analysis

Test
ODI
T20I

Recent Matches of AB de Villiers

MatchBatDateGroundFormat
RCB vs KKR1111-Oct-2021SharjahT20
RCB vs DC2608-Oct-2021Dubai (DICS)T20
RCB vs SRH19*06-Oct-2021Abu DhabiT20
RCB vs PBKS2303-Oct-2021SharjahT20
RCB vs RR4*29-Sep-2021Dubai (DICS)T20

Photos of AB de Villiers

AB de Villiers poses for a picture with young fans
Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers have a chat ahead of the game
AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis at the RCB Unbox event
AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli at the RCB Unbox event
Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers during the RCB Unbox event
AB de Villiers and Pommie Mbangwa have a chat