AB De Villiers : A master of all formats of Cricket !

Say, you are the captain of the cricket team. You had to choose a batsman for all the formats of the game: ODIs, Tests and T20s. Whom would it be? Most of you would say, Sachin Tendulkar or Jacques Kallis or Cook or Clarke. Yes, all these players have astounding records, but have they performed equally well in all the formats? The answer is No. The player I would choose is none other than Ab De Villiers. He is currently Rank 1 in the ICC Test and ODI batsmen’s rankings. He is also ranked 38th by ICC in T20s. But rankings don’t show us the entire value AB brings to the table.

Here are the statistics of AB De Villiers’ batting

Tests – 88 matches played, 6753 runs scored at an average of 51.54
ODIs – 159 matches played, 6331 runs scored at an average of 49.46
T20s – 51 matches played, 867 runs scored at an average of 21.67.

What this fails to show is the impact Villiers has on the opposition. He can score runs at will and also slow down the pace of the game. You want to chase down a total quickly, he is the go to guy. South Africa wants to draw a test, AB will do it. Need some quick runs on the board before declaring the 1st innings, AB to the rescue. His range of strokes used is second to none and it makes even the best bowlers lose their rhythm (Ask Dale Steyn who was hit for 23 runs in an over in the IPL). The number of matches he has won for Royal Challengers Bangalore single handedly is 10+ at the least. To keeping his wicket and scoring a run a ball in case the top order batsman fail to coming in late and finishing of the innings in style, AB can do it all.

His record in Tests has been equally good. He has also taken over the wicket-keeping duties after Mark Boucher’s retirement and has made sure it hasn’t affected his batting. Known for his attacking style of batting, AB showed he is also capable of keeping his calm and holding onto his wicket to save the Test. The best example of this was his knock against Australia in the 2nd test in 2012 of 33 runs in 220 balls. He also provided the much needed support to F du Plessis who was on the other end of the wicket. The very next Test, AB scored 169 runs off 184 balls at a strike rate of over 91. This shows the versatility this player possesses and if he continues to amass runs the way he is doing it now, there is no telling how great he will be when he ends his career.

His ODI stats consists of 16 hundreds and 36 fifties from just 159 matches. From obliterating the opposition bowling in the death overs to building a big partnership on losing the opening batsmen, AB has proven that he is capable of batting at any position on the order or at any point of time. He has been compared to Micheal Bevan for his match finishing skills and also with India’s Virat Kohli for his ability to destroy bowlers with beautiful stroke play. At just 29 years of age, AB De Villiers has already carved a memorable stature for himself in the cricket world. With at least 7 years of cricket left in him (barring any injury), AB has all the making of finishing his cricketing career as one of the best batsman to ever play the game.