Some Interesting Facts About AB DE Villiers 

Abraham Benjamin DE Villiers was born on 17th February 1984 in Bela-Bela, South Africa. AB has played all three formats for South Africa from 2004 to 2018. For his deadly, creative, and consistent batting he is regarded as one of the greats to ever play the game. AB made his international debut against England in a test match in 2004 and a year after that he made his first appearance in an ODI in 2005 against the mighty English side. AB is a player who can take responsibility for the team every time his team goes on the ground. For this attribute, every team wants to have him in franchise cricket. Everyone loves DE Villiers for his down-to-earth attitude. There are some interesting facts about Ab De Villiers not everyone knows, so let’s contemplate those. 

Interesting Facts About AB DE Villiers 

1. AB DE Villiers’s father was a doctor by profession, who used to play rugby in his childhood. His mother would work in the real estate sector. 

2. DE Villiers used to go to Afrikaanse Hoer Seunskool, which is in Pretoria. South African batsman Faf Du Plessis was his good friend in school. Then they played international cricket for South Africa together for 6-7 years. 

3. AB De Villiers is a multi-talented person. During his school period, he played many sports like Hockey, Table-Tennis, Rugby, Badminton, Golf, Swimming, Tennis, etc. He was one of the members of the U-14 school cricket team. De Villiers even made it to the U-16 Hockey team of school and Junior National Hockey Team. He was good at playing rugby too and represented the South African Rugby team. Along with sports AB was a bright student too in his school, once Nelson Mandela bestowed him an award for a science project in school.
4. AB was a part of the South African U-19 squad which traveled to England in 2003. He was the 2nd highest run-getter with 202 runs in 3 matches (5 innings) with an impressive average of 40.40. His teammate Faf Du Plessis was the highest run-scorer.

5. DE Villiers made his first-class debut for Northerns in 2003-04. But in the next year, he moved to Titans and played there for another 14 years, till 2018. AB has scored 10689 runs in 149 first-class matches with a captivating average of 49.71. His average says it all about him, how important player he has been for his team.  

6. AB is the 3rd fastest South African to score 1000 test runs, he achieved the feat in just 20 innings. 

7. For his stroke playing ability all around the park, AB is called “MR. 360”.

8. AB DE Villiers is the fastest batsman to smash a 50 in ODIs, he scored the fifty against West Indies at Johannesburg in just 16 balls in 2015. 

9. AB is also the fastest century scorer in ODI, in 31 balls against West Indies in 2015 at Johannesburg. 

10. MR.360 has smacked the fastest 150 in ODIs against West Indies in the 2015 World Cup at Sydney Cricket Ground. 

11. The former South African skipper has scored the 3rd fastest 7000 runs in One Day Internationals, he took 166 innings to reach the milestone. In 2014 he broke the record of Brian Lara to become the quickest to make 7000 runs but in 2017 his record was broken by Virat Kohli. 

12. De Villiers is also the 3rd quickest to amass 8000 runs in ODIs in 182 innings. 

13. The Swashbuckling opener is the fastest South African to score a test century, in 75 balls against India at Centurion. 

14. De Villiers has smacked the 2nd joint-most number of sixes in an ODI by a batsman, 16 sixes against West Indies in 2015. 

15. He has accumulated the most runs among South Africans in the ICC cricket world cup history, 1207 runs in 23 matches (22 innings) with an incredible average of 63.52. De Villiers’s 1206 runs is the fifth highest in World Cups by any individual. 

16. As a Wicket-keeper, De Villiers has done a very good job. He has apprehended 463 catches and affected 17 stumpings in 420 international matches.

17. AB DE Villiers is the only player in the history of cricket to score a century and affect 10 dismissals in a test match, he accomplished this feat against Pakistan in 2013. 

18. The great batsman from South Africa has notched up 20014 runs in 420 international matches, which is 2nd highest by a South African after Jacques Kallis. 

19. AB is the first South African to score a double century against India, 217* off 333 balls at Ahmedabad in 2008.

20. AB DE Villiers played his first 3 IPL seasons for Delhi Daredevils. RCB bought De Villiers in 2011 for $1.5 million. He has stated many times that he loves the management, teammates, and fans of RCB. In IPL AB has accumulated  5056 runs in 176 matches with an impressive average of 40.77. His strike rate is 152.38. 

21. Abraham DE Villiers has got the most number of Man of the Match awards (25) in IPL history. 
22. DE Villiers has been ICC ODI player of the year three times in 2010, 2014 &2015. 

23. There are very few players who have scored over 8500 runs in both Test

24. He has led the national side in 103 matches from 2012 to 2017, winning 59 matches with a win percentage of 60.10. 

25. AB proposed to his girlfriend Daniele Swart at Taj Mahal in 2012 and married her in 2013. He has one son and two daughters together.

26. Besides sports AB De Villiers is fond of singing . In 2010 he released his single track “Maak Jou Drome Waar” with South African vocalist Ampie Du Preez. 

27. De Villiers played his last international match against Australia in a test match in march 2018. On 23rd May 2018, he bid adieu to international cricket. Later on, during the 2019 Cricket World Cup, there were rumors that AB made himself available for the selection in the South African side. But as didn’t play international cricket for almost one year he was not added to the squad. 

28. AB is a kind-hearted and selfless cricketer. The South African cricket board insisted him to play the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup. But he said- “he doesn’t want to occupy any youngster’s place in the team”. This shows that he wants the young players to play more and more and be mature to make his country proud.”
29. Despite being an extraordinary batsman, Mr.360 never had the fortune to hold any of the ICC trophies in his career.  
30. His jersey number was 17.
31. Every cricket fan is curious about his net worth, which is estimated to be $21 million.
32. In 2019, the right hand batsman from South Africa played for prominent County side Middle

AB DE Villiers Career Stats

Format	Matches	Innings	Runs	Average	Strike Rate	Best	50s	100s
Test	114	191	8765	50.66	54.51	278*	46	22
ODI	228	218	9577	53.50	101.09	176	53	25
T20I	78	75	1672	26.12	135.16	79*	10	–
T20	332	312	9318	37.72	150.48	133*	69	4