Brisbane Heat Sign AB de Villiers For BBL|09

South Africa legend AB de Villiers is all set to try his hands at a new adventure after signing up for Big Bash League outfit Brisbane Heat. The former Proteas skipper will be available for the second part of the tournament. The Heat have secured AB de Villiers’ services to replace their former opener and skipper Brendon McCullum who retired from all forms of the game earlier this year.

AB de Villiers surprisingly announced his retirement from international cricket last summer. One of the most decorated batsmen in the history of the game, he scored a staggering 20,014 international runs (8765 in Tests, 9577 in ODIs and 1672 in T20Is). He also finished his career with a batting average over 50 in both Tests, and ODIs.

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The right-hander also holds the record for the fastest 50, fastest 100 and fastest 150 in ODIs, all coming against the West Indies. He smashed a 31-ball 100 in Johannesburg in 2015 and hit a 66-ball 162 in the 2015 World Cup encounter in Sydney. The Heat would be expecting a similar performance from the star man this season.

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AB de Villiers has shown that retiring from international cricket has not affected his form much. He is the leading run-scorer in T20s this year after impressing in the Indian Premier League and the Vitality T20 Blast. The veteran scored 442 runs for Royal Challengers Bangalore before scoring 348 for Middlesex.

Very pleased to have signed for Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash. Great team, great city @HeatBBL @BBL pic.twitter.com/DDQOxlS0tZ

— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) September 30, 2019

“I must also say the Brisbane Heat have always stood out to me. They play the kind of cricket that I want to play – it’s quite aggressive and they go after the attack. And the Gabba is a beautiful cricket ground. It’s got a great wicket and games are always of a high quality,” said AB de Villiers after signing the deal.

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Heat, nonetheless, have three overseas players in their squad. Apart from AB de Villiers, they have also roped in Mujeeb Ur Rahman for another season and his fellow Afghan spinner Zahir Khan.