Sportzwiki's Tribute - Being Abraham Benjamin de Villiers!

A wide range of strokes and an even extensive range of followers – AB de Villiers is one of the hottest assets in the game of cricket.

While I flunked in physics, AB makes a mockery of its laws. He is the modern-day batsman who is admired by the yesteryear’s stars.

Wednesday afternoon turned eventful, as I sat down with a friend to brainstorm on the Dream XI picks for the eliminator between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals.

Soon all the happenings took a backseat, as the news regarding the Pretoria-born cricketer calling time on his career went viral. Social media can be misleading, and therefore it took me a good ten minutes to trust the authenticity of the news.

We all knew the day would arrive sooner than later. AB took a sabbatical from Test cricket for close to two years, before returning to play against Zimbabwe in December last year. He was one of the architects in South Africa’s thumping series victories against India and then Australia at home.

In fact, in his last international series, the 34-year old made 427 runs from eight innings at an average of 71.17 against Steven Smith’s men.

Grit and composure in whites

Having made his Test debut against England in 2004, AB went on to have a prolific career in Tests. He scored 28 and 14 in that particular match and boarded the rollercoaster ride from there on.

The following year, he scored 1008 runs at an average of 53.08. The wonder boy notched up a sensational unbeaten ton against Australia at Perth three years later. It was the second most successful fourth innings chase in the history of Test cricket. De Villiers remained unbeaten on 106 and took his side over the line, chasing 414.

He loves to gorge on seafood and burgers, but he took a special liking to Indian curry in Centurion in the year 2010. An explosive hundred in just 75 balls earned him the feat of scoring the fastest hundred by a South African in Tests. He laced through the covers, swept at ease and pulled when required. India were handed an innings defeat even after scoring 459 in their second innings.

Switching gears on demand

It wasn’t all slam-bang in AB’s playbook. A rock-solid unbeaten 33 off 220 balls against Australia in 2012 bored the spectators to death but saved the match for the visiting Proteas side.

He was probably the only batsman to have hit the headlines for scoring a duck against England in a Test. It was no ordinary digit; the cricketer failed to get off the mark for the first time in 78 innings since making his debut.

Going limitless in limited-overs contests

The only cricketer with an ODI average of 50-plus and a strike rate of 100-plus made AB fun to watch from the stands. He was no less than a panther in pink at Johannesburg against the Windies.

He teed-off the hapless bowling pack, scoring a 44-ball 149. Playing a captain’s knock, he reached the three-figure mark in just 31 balls. A record which still stands tall- fastest ODI hundred.

The stroke-making was at its best, as he hit a total of 16 sixes, all around the park. It was also one of those occasions when a batsman came in after the 25^th over (38^th over in that particular match) and scored a hundred.

AB has done that on five occasions, next on the list are India’s Virat Kohli and England’s Jos Buttler (two times each).

Decoding the AB theory

He stamped his authority in the shortest format of the game with some unorthodox cricketing shots. Going down on one knee, sweeping the pacers for sixes only sounded practical in video games, but the man from the rainbow nation had that kind of array of strokes.

Even while he shuffles across the wicket, De Villiers keeps his head still till the very last moment, making it easy to execute the shot. Batting with low hands makes him a threat in the slog overs.

While the bowlers look to put down those yorkers to good effect, AB gets under the white leather and sends it over the roofs.

In 78 T20Is, AB scored 1672 runs. He has 6649 runs from 251 T20s; these numbers are likely to go up, as he is certain to continue playing across T20 leagues.

We have seen the last of one of the greatest architects of the game at the international level. The tale featuring him lifting the world cup will silently make its way to the fantasy section.

Only a few weeks back, AB sent the Chinnaswamy crowd into a frenzy, as he took a spectacular catch in the IPL. He looked sharp in the field and totally on song at the crease. But then that is the thing with extraordinary personalities- they leave the stage on a high!