Name- AB De Villiers
Real Name- Abraham Benjamin de Villiers
Date of Birth- 17 February 1984
Age- 36 years(as in 2020)
Religion- Christianity
Nationality- South African
Mother- Millie De Villiers
Father- Abraham B De Villers
Sister– None
Brother- Jan De Villiers & Wessels De Villiers
Marital Status/Marriage- Married
Wife- Danielle De Villiers
Son- Abraham De Villiers & John Richard De Villiers
Daughter- None
Height- 5’11 approx.
Weight- 76kg approx.
Net Worth- US$20 million approx.
Salary- Retainer Fee- $363,000 Approx.
Test- $6926 Approx.
ODI- $1900 Approx.
T20- $912 Approx.
Table of Contents
AB De Villiers Biography
AB De Villiers is a former South African International cricketer who has captained his team across all the three cricket formats. He is primarily known as a right handed wicket keeper batsmen. Born on 17 February 1984, he did his schooling from Warmbaths Primary School and Afrikaanse Hoer Seunskool in Pretoria. He is a champion cricketer, a brilliant wicket-keeper & a terrific batsmen who rose to fame after he scored double century (217 runs) in a match against team India becoming the first South African cricketer to have ever done so. Right from the start of his cricket career playing for Titans in South African domestic cricket to playing at International level in all the formats including IPL, he had a highly illustrious cricket career which lasted for almost 14 years.
Favorite Things of AB De Villiers
- Virat Kohli is his Favorite Batsmen.
- Wasim Akram and Gerrit Deist are his Favorite Bowlers.
- Jonty Rhodes is his Favorite Fielder.
- SuperSport Park, Centurion, South Africa is his Favorite Cricket ground.
- Manchester United F.C is his Favorite Football Team.
- Tiger Woods and Roger Federer are his Favorite Athletes.
- Sea Food and Pasta are his Favorite Food.
- Red Wine is his Favorite Drink.
- Brad Pitt is his Favorite Actor.
- Kate Beckinsale is his Favorite Actress.
- A River Runs Through It and Gladiator are his Favorite Movies.
- The Voice SA is his Favorite TV Show.
- Snow Patrol is his Favorite Band.
- Golfing, Travelling and Swimming are his Favorite Hobbies.
Facts About AB De Villiers
- He was born in a sports loving family and was encouraged towards sports since his childhood.
- Once he was even expelled from his school for playing pranks with other students.
- As a kid, he used to play various sports including tennis, squash, badminton, football, rugby, swimming, etc. but later developed more interest towards cricket.
- He made it to the SA’s junior national hockey team, National Badminton U-19 Champion and SA’s junior soccer team but chose his career in cricket after a spell in South Africa U19 team.
- In the year 2003, he started his cricket journey playing for Titans and then played for Carrickfergus Club in Northern Ireland as an International player.
- After playing first class cricket, he made his test debut against England in 2004. His performance was well appreciated and over the years, he gained reputation as an outstanding fielder and wicket keeper as well.
- Later, he came to limelight after he was selected in team for World Cup 2007. But his performance wasn’t up to the mark and he received lots of criticism for the same. However, his team managed to get into the semi-finals where they lost the match to Australia.
- Though the following year turned out to be his one of the best years where he garnered huge reputation and fame after scoring double century (217 runs) against India and yet remained not out.
- In 2008-09, he played his first test series in Perth, Australia and helped his team to win the series. Also, this was SA’s first win in Australia after almost 15 years.
- He was well appreciated for his performance in 2011 World Cup where he scored 2 centuries in the tournament becoming the first South African cricketer to achieve this. But despite his best performance, his team lost in quarterfinals by New Zealand.
- In the same year, he was appointed as ODI captain of his team. He led his team to win in many test and ODI matches under his captaincy.
- Then in 2015, he yet again gave brilliant performance and became the highest run scorer from his team. However, just like the previous World Cup, his team again lost the match in semi-finals by New Zealand.
- In 2016, he released his autobiography “AB: The Autobiography”. The book is available in English and Afrikaan languages.
- There have been various public stories related to him on internet about his multi-sport talent but in his autobiography, he revealed everything about that as well.
- Owing to his amazing shots in game, he is called Mr.360 and Superman by his fans.
- Apart from cricket, he is involved with “Make a Difference Foundation” which basically supports scholars of South Africa from different fields.
- He is also a singer and made his singing debut with music album “Maak Jou Drome Waar” (Make Your Dreams Come True).
- After serving in International cricket for a little less than 14 years, the versatile champion AB De Villiers announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket on 23 May 2018.
- The 360 degree batsman is a crowd favorite in Indian Premier League right from his inception in 2008. But he truly became the fans favorite since he joined Royal Challengers Bangalore. He has played with Indian cricketers like Yuzvendra Chahal, Kulwant Khejroliya, Washington Sundar, etc.
AB De Villiers Family
He was born in Warmbad, South Africa into a high class Christian family. His father name is Abraham B De Villers and mother name is Millie De Villiers. He has two elder brothers named Jan De Villiers & Wessels De Villiers. Describing his family, De Villiers says, “His family have a very relaxed lifestyle up there where everyone knows everyone”. His family has been an sports enthusiast especially his father who encouraged him to play sports since his childhood. Following the same, the run marauder has made his family proud by being one of the most popular and loved cricketer overseas.
AB De Villiers Wife/ Girlfriend
He is married to his long time girlfriend Danielle. He met her at the Waterberg Mountains accompanying his mother and a real estate owner. After finishing their meal, he was introduced to the owner John swart who wanted them to meet his wife and daughter Danielle. On their very first encounter, he was smitten by her beauty and somehow got her number on the way back to his home. Eventually they became good friends but their relationship didn’t seem to be much progress until they met again at his brother Wessel’s wedding. The love reignited and he finally proposed to her at Taj Mahal in 2012 after dating for 5 years. The couple got married in 2013 and are parents of 2 sons named Abraham De Villiers & John Richard De Villiers.
AB De Villiers Career
Once in every generation comes a player like AB De Villiers who can redefine the meaning of game with immense amount of natural talent which others can only dream about. Known as Mr.360, he has risen through the ranks across all formats of cricket since his debut in 2004 against England. Right from the start of his cricket journey, he’d waste no time and shown the world his finest batsmen capabilities immediately. He holds various records including 50 (16 balls), 100 (31 balls) and 150 (64 balls) of all time in One Day Internationals by any batsmen and many more. Also, he became ICC ODI Player of the Year for three times in 2010, 2014 and 2015. On and off the field, he is an athlete who is immensely gifted with abundance of talents becoming the crowning glory of the modern game.
AB De Villiers International Debut
Creating endless numbers of envious records in not one but many different sports, he made his International cricket debut as on:
- ODI- On 2 February 2005 against team England at Bloemfontein.
- Test- On 17 December 2004 against England at Port Elizabeth.
- T20- On 24 February 2006 against Australia at Johannesburg.
AB De Villiers Shine To Glory
Initially his performance for Titans in 2003-04 season attracted the selectors to make him the part of South African test series against England. Later, he eventually rose to fame after he scored double century against India yet remained not out. Till that day to the time he played cricket, he holds many records like fastest 150 in an ODI (64 balls vs West Indies in 2015), highest T20 partnership of 229 runs off 92 balls with Virat Kohli in the IPL playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore, etc.
AB De Villiers Low Points
His career’s low points does not really consists of his poor form but majorly his injuries. In the year 2017, he kept himself away from lots of International matches due to injuries. Another low point is the “Chokers” tag that his team has got in ICC events. The brilliant cricketer yet to win the World Cup.
AB De Villiers Records
He holds various records over the years for his performance like:
- 2nd youngest and fastest South African player to reach 1000 test runs after Graeme Pollack.
- Record of hitting the fastest 50 & 100 in ODI.
- Reaching 7000 runs in minimum ODI matches.
- Record of hitting maximum 6s in an ODI match along with Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma.
- Fastest ODI 150 runs off 64 in February 2015.
- Fastest ODI 100 off 31 balls in January 2015.
- Three time ODI Player of The Year in 2010, 2014 and 2015.
- First South African Player to score Double century against India with score of 217.
- Equalled Jack Russell’s record of 11 dismissals in a match on February 2013.
AB De Villiers Awards
He has won various for his performances including:
- 2009- Named in ‘Team of the Tournament’ by Cricinfo for T20I World Cup.
- 2010- ICC ODI Player of the Year
- 2014- South African and ODI Player of the Year.
- 2015- SA Fan’s , ICC ODI, and South African Cricketer of the Year.
- Won numerous man of the match & man of the series awards.
- Received National Medal from Mandela for his Science Project.
AB De Villiers Controversy
He has made headlines in the news for few of his controversies. Here it is:
- During 2019 ICC World Cup, he made himself available for the national team squad. Therefore, he was criticized for his decision to play in franchise leagues rather than for his own country.
AB De Villiers IPL
AB has always been a hot buy in Indian Premier League starting off with his journey for Delhi Daredevils till he moved to Royal Challengers Bangalore. He is one of the most powerful and successful batsmen of IPL and has been a constant leading run getter ever since joining the RCB in 2011. He is a crowd puller who leads RCB along with captain Virat Kohli.
AB De Villiers Retirement
He took retirement from all the formats of International cricket on 23rd May 2018. In an interview to media on 2019, he told about his plans of starting his own company in future for which he even emphasized on studying Property Development.
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