What makes AB de Villiers the most innovative batsman in the world today?

“AB de Villiers, without an iota of doubt, is the most complete batsman in the modern era, who has three to four shots in his repertoire for every delivery. There is nothing that he cannot do when he is batting. He is quick on his feet and his thought process”, were the words of V.V.S Laxman when asked to describe the South African batting powerhouse. The tributes keep pouring in for AB from all quarters. He claimed 4 awards from Cricket South Africa this year- “Cricketer of the Year”, “Test Cricketer of the Year”, South African Players’ Player of the Year” and “South African Fan’s Cricketer of the Year”. That speaks volumes about his sheer talent on the field and the respect he commands in South Africa today.

South African cricket has had a dramatic history over the years and has seen many a great cricketers. Michael Owen- Smith one of South Africa’s most respected cricket historians says that he puts AB with Barry Richards in terms of talent. AB finds a place in Owen-smith’s South African all time Greats list. The most recent memory for me is of the innings that AB played in Hambantota on the 12th of July during South Africa’s tour of Sri Lanka.  The manner in which AB went after Sri Lankan bowling was phenomenal. Yorkers outside the off stump by Malinga which won Sri Lanka the T20 world cup, were dismissed straight into the ropes.  When Malinga tried to get too aggressive, the ball was launched into the crowd using the baseball swipe shot! That did not leave Malinga happy which made him try out innovative deliveries. AB has 2-3 shots ready for any delivery bowled to him. The 71 ball 108 broke the back bone of the Lankans as they lost the match by 82 runs and thus the series.  AB de Villiers ended the 21 year long wait for South Africa to win a series in Sri Lanka.

AB has averaged 70 with the bat over the last 3 years and has been in the top 10 test rankers in the world.  He is now the owner of a new record of scoring most 50s in consecutive tests, 12 to be precise. To put that in perspective, the great Viv Richards could only manage 11, so did Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag. He should get the credit for making South Africa the no.1 test team in the world. As I write this piece, he is ranked no.2 in both the formats of the game- test and ODI. His fellow South African, Amla leads him in the ODIs and Kumara Sangakkara leads him the tests. Taking over the team’s mantle from Graeme Smith and building it into a top notch competitor for the next year’s world cup, is what AB needs to be credited for.

South Africa and Australia face off in the tri-series finals in Harare today.  Watch out for Abraham Benjamin de Villiers, the man leading the Proteas by example.