Life Of AB de Villiers And 13 Reasons Why He Is Called The Superman Of Cricket

AB de Villiers, the man who was called ‘the superman of cricket’, retired on Wednesday, suddenly. There was no hint, no speculation, absolutely nothing that would suggest the departure of one of the greatest batsmen of the cricketing world. Loved by fans in his home country, South Africa, and by those around the world, de Villiers leaves behind a mountain of records that are hard to conquer. His iconic stature can be gauged from the fact that de Villiers was loved and respected by fanatical cricket lovers in India in the same way they love the Indian legends.

But do you not want to know why he was called ‘Superman’? Hint: It was not for his exceptional fielding, else Jonty Rhodes would have been called Thanos.

Read on:

1. AB de Villiers holds the records for the world’s fastest One Day International (ODI) 50 and 100.

De Villiers smacked the ball across the park against West Indies for the 50 which came off in 16 balls on 18 January 2015. He broke the 19-year-old record of Sanath Jayasuriya by one ball.

2. He is the only player after Shahid Afridi to have got both ODI fastest 50 and 100 in the same match.

Continuing his innings after he scored the fastest 50, ABD got the century in 31 balls. In the match, he ended with 149 runs off 44 balls.

3. He holds the records for the world’s fastest ODI 150.

On 27 February 2015, ABD took 64 deliveries to reach 150 against West Indies, beating the previous best, set by Australia’s Shane Watson, by 19 balls.

4. He holds the record for the fastest Test century by a South African…

He scored 100 in 75 balls against India at Centurion in 2010-11 season.

5. And the fastest Twenty20 International (T20I) 50 by a South African.

De Villiers got the 50 in 21 balls playing against England in Johannesburg on 21 February 2016.

6. He also holds the record for playing the most Test innings for South Africa without registering a duck.

He was dismissed for nought against Bangladesh in November 2008 AFTER he played the first 78 innings of his Test career.

7. De Villiers is called ‘Mr. 360’ because of his unorthodox shots behind the wicket-keeper and slips.

8. With 278 (not out), de Villiers is the second-highest individual scorer for South Africa.

9. De Villiers is counted among the world’s greatest fielders akin to fellow South African Jonty Rhodes.

In 2006, he effected a sensational run-out of Australian Test great Simon Katich by first diving to stop the ball then tossing it backwards to hit the stumps while lying on his stomach, all within seconds.

In 2018, he leapt 6 feet into the air to take a catch at the boundary line while playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Those were just two his many, many incredible feats.

10. On 4 April 2008, de Villiers smashed 217 (not out) to become the first South African to score a Test double century against India.

On 20 November 2010, he scored his second double century, not out on 278, against Pakistan.

11. In the 2011 World Cup, de Villiers became the first South African to slam two back-to-back 100s.

He also became the fifth batsman after Mark Waugh, Saeed Anwar, Rahul Dravid and Matthew Hayden to score two consecutive centuries in a single World Cup tournament.

12. In the World Cups, AB de Villiers’ strike rate of 136.73 is the highest among South African batsmen who have slammed tons.

13. Only two cricketers – Sachin Tendulkar and Jacques Kallis – have a career high batting average higher than ABD’s.

Among all cricketers who have played a combined 400 matches across all formats of the game, de Villiers is third on the batting average list with 48.11. Tendulkar retired with an average of 48.52 and Kallis with an average of 49.10.

So those were the 13 reasons why AB de Villiers is called the Superman of Cricket.

Now, for some other facts about de Villiers:

1. Born on the 17 February 1984, in Bela-Bela, South Africa. The ‘AB’ in his name stands for Abraham Benjamin.

2. He attended high school in Pretoria with Faf du Plessis, another South African batting great.

3. Till 2015, de Villiers also used to keep wickets. He gave up after the arrival of Quinton de Kock.

4. He proposed to his future wife, Danielle Swart, at the Taj Mahal in 2012 and married her a year later in Bela-Bela, South Africa.

They have two sons Abraham Benjamin (born 2015) and John Richard (born 2017).

5. Besides cricket, de Villiers is also known for his singing and playing guitar.

He has a bilingual pop album ‘Maak Jou Drome Waar’ to his credit in which he features with acclaimed South African singer Ampie du Preez.

Also read: 15 Quotes Which Prove AB de Villiers Is The Superman Of Cricket