Abraham Benjamin de Villiers (more commonly known by his initials, AB) was born on February 17, 1984 in Pretoria, Transvaal Province, South Africa. He is the youngest of three sons born to parents Millie and Abraham Benjamin (who AB is named after) – his older siblings being Jan (9 years older) and Wessels (6 years older). His mother works in property, while his father is a doctor with a general practice. AB was raised in the small town of Warmbad, in the north of the country, where he attended primary school. It was here that AB learned to play cricket in the backyard with his brothers.
“When I was very young, I started playing cricket in the garden against my older brothers, Jan and Wessels, and Martin van Jaarsveld [who later played for the Titans and South Africa],” AB remembers. “I had to carry the water and, after a long day, they would finally give me my chance. I was a little ou and they were all in matric. They would try to intimidate me. The bat was actually too heavy for me, and I would rest it on the dustbin while they were walking back to their mark,” he says. “They battled to get me out and they would get so frustrated that they’d bowl a couple of beamers at me to see what I would do. Saturday games at our house in Bela Bela were very competitive. My brothers were merciless. They were monsters. There were always a lot of tears—usually mine,” he laughs.
AB went to Afrikaans Hoër Seunsskool in Pretoria, across the road from Loftus Versfeld, where Jacques Rudolph was also a student.
AB is one of those boys who most of us knew at school and both resented and wanted to be. He plays golf off a handicap of two, not having had time to maintain his scratch rating, gave up tennis at the age of 13 when he was in the national squad and did not want to leave home to attend the Nick Bollettieri Academy in Florida, and had an offer to play at fly-half for the Blue Bulls (provincial rugby team). Actually, maybe he was better than the average bloke you knew at school.
If things have come easy to AB, he has inherited his culture’s work ethic. Church and sport are twin religions. “Sundays in church, and whenever I’ve got time off church, cricket and golf.”
MAKING HIS DREAMS COME TRUE
“I was eight years old when I saw Jonty’s world famous run out against Australia in the 1992 World Cup. It really made an impression on me. I remember thinking: this is a cool game! I started dreaming of following in Jonty’s footsteps,” he says. Recognising their son’s cricketing aptitude, AB’s parents decided to send their talented son to Affies. “At that stage I participated in various sports and wasn’t sure what I wanted to focus on. However, when I made the South African Colt team at 16, I realised cricket was something I could pursue professionally. I started working harder. I wanted to be the best in my age group.”
While playing for the South African Schools Eleven, he was spotted by the Titans’ coach Dave Nosworthy. Dave gave him a chance to play for this team against Canada in a 2003 World Cup warm-up game. “It was the first time that I played a televised game. I was very nervous, but I thrive under pressure, especially if people are watching. Life is all about grabbing opportunities. I grabbed the opportunity with both hands,” he says.
He was a star of the South African Under-19 team in England in 2003, and then played for the Carrickfergus Cricket Club in Northern Ireland in 2004. AB says this was a big step in his life as it was the first time he lived away from home. He had to learn to become independent and self-sufficient.AB de Villiers also took part in lot of Games at national level including Tennis, Golf, Rugby and Cricket. de Villiers was a part of U-16 hockey Team of South Africa, a good swimmer having records in swimming championships at national level. He has been Badminton national champion in U-19 category. De Villiers, before his start of International Cricket Career distinguished himself as most talented athlete in South Africa.
AB de Villiers (1984–)Famous International Cricketer (South Africa)
AB de Villiers (Full name Abraham Benjamin de Villiers and nick name ABD, Mr.360) was born on February 17, 1984. He is South African Cricket Player. He is part of the team as a batsman. He has also been leading the team as a Captain since 2011. He was at the second position in Test Ranking issued by International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2014 and got the first position in ODI ranking.
Early Life and Education of AB de Villierfather of ab de villiers AB de Villiers was born on February 17, 1984 in Pretoria, South Africa. His father name is Dr Abraham P de Villiers. AB de Villiers has two siblings Jan and Wessels. He got his early education from Afrikaans High School for Boys, He also received national medal on completion of a science project from Nelson Mandela.
childhood of ab de villiers
AB de Villiers also took part in lot of Games at national level including Tennis, Golf, Rugby and Cricket. de Villiers was a part of U-16 hockey Team of South Africa, a good swimmer having records in swimming championships at national level. He has been Badminton national champion in U-19 category. De Villiers, before his start of International Cricket Career distinguished himself as most talented athlete in South Africa.
De Villiers Career as a Cricketer and Records ab devilliers performance
Abraham Benjamin de Villiers aka AB de Villiers, is arguably the best batsman in the world, across all three formats. His ability to destroy bowling attacks and take away the match single-handedly is second to none. From Test cricket to T20, AB de Villiers is the biggest threat for any bowler in world cricket. We are sure, most of you must be thinking of AB de Villiers just as a crazy hitter of the ball, but we have something special for you in this post This young man from South Africa was born in Pretoria in the Transvaal Province. Not too much has been known about AB de Villiers family background, but the picture of his own career speaks it all for him. Villiers has a personality to die for. Often it is a hot debate amongst the women about AB de Villiers height and weight, which is 5” 10, and approximately 75 kg’s respectively.
AB de Villiers Cricket Career
Amongst all the legendary cricketers in the world, AB de Villiers is one of the most celebrated ones. Succeeding Graeme Smith for the captaincy of South African Cricket Team, AB de Villiers cricketer profile is shining with accolades. Main reasons for such high standards were AB de Villiers batting records that were remarkable and would be written in the history of Golden Cricket.
He made his test cricket debut in the year 2004 against England, but that match was too good to be called as AB de Villiers debut match as he performed like a pro. Even though AB de Villiers debut score for that match was not too high, but his batting skills drew him ample attention. Of all AB de Villiers matches one would have ever witnessed, AB de Villiers batting average would show classy statistics. His batting average in Test Cricket comes out to be near about 51.02 and in that of ODI’s, it is a remarkable 51.50.
AB de Villiers Cricket Records
This South African cricketer is not only a great batsman, an inspiring captain, but AB de Villiers as wicketkeeper could also be seen in his wide range career. Many have witnessed AB de Villiers world records, the most recent one being the record break of Indian former skipper and batsman, Sourav Ganguly.When he opened up his career with a marvellous performance, AB de Villiers first class debut stunned the whole cricket world. One record worth mentioning would be AB de Villiers fastest century when he got his name amongst the top few batsmen in the world. Another noteworthy moment was AB de Villiers catch by Chris Lynn that is still fondly remembered.
AB de Villiers in IPL
The implementation of IPL Cricket was a great career boast for him as AB de Villiers IPL stats show his classic and versatile performance. Apart from AB de Villiers test matches records, this one man army and cricket player AB de Villiers bio-data has another feather added to his hat with the great AB de Villiers IPL records that has made his name amongst the hall of famers.
When the whole concept of IPL started, several people were ambiguous that AB de Villiers plays for which IPL team as every team wanted this gem on their list. Soon it was declared that he would join Royal Challengers Bangalore and played under the captaincy of Virat Kohli who is the captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore. Although RCB never won an IPL cup, his fans had to their end some AB de Villiers best fielding moments. However, AB de Villiers IPL contract was in question a little while ago due to some health issues, and a lot of his fans were forced to wonder that will AB de Villiers play IPL 8? To answer this question, we might have to wait a little while.
AB de Villiers in other Sports
The cricket career of this man is quite visible; however, what are less seen of are AB de Villiers hockey player and also AB de Villiers football player that have remained behind the curtains. For more information on his skills and expertise, AB de Villiers bowling videos can be watched at YouTube. As for now, his fans cannot wait for another AB de Villiers world cup 2015 record in the succeeding year.He has also made a fresh career in the music industry by a number often referred to as AB de Villiers song, highly loved by his fans Given his glittery career, a lot of people have been wondering about AB de Villiers net worth, but to everyone’s surprise, AB de Villiers charity work is much more worthwhile.
AB de Villiers Love Life, Marriage
The records on AB de Villiers wiki would confirm that AB de Villiers love affairs have always been in limelight except for one girlfriend of AB de Villiers whom he later married, Danielle Swart. Often fans were curious to know about AB de Villiers love life and after his wedding, they were curious about AB de Villiers wife Danielle Swart, the pretty young woman whom Villiers married after a while of courtship. This was regarded as AB de Villiers hit wicket as he had fallen in love with this woman instantly. Until AB de Villiers and his girlfriend Danielle declared to marry, his fans would often ponder is AB de Villiers married?However, AB de Villiers girlfriend name was not revealed until much later and this gave birth to another AB de Villiers controversy when he was spotted publically with an unknown woman. Even though AB de Villiers dating history is much of a controversy in its own, AB de Villiers marriage ruled out all the possibilities of any further scandals.
Ab De Villiers Childhood“When I was very young, I started playing cricket in the garden against my older brothers, Jan and Wessels, and Martin van Jaarsveld [who later played for the Titans and South Africa],” AB remembers. “I had to carry the water and, after a long day, they would finally give me my chance. I was a little ou and they were all in matric.Biography of AB de Villiers They would try to intimidate me. The bat was actually too heavy for me, and I would rest it on the dustbin while they were walking back to their mark,” he says. “They battled to get me out and they would get so frustrated that they’d bowl a couple of beamers at me to see what I would do. Saturday games at our house in Bela Bela were very competitive. My brothers were merciless. They were monsters. There were always a lot of tears—usually mine,” he laughs.
“I decided when I was 10 that I was going to do something in sport one day,” he said. “I realised then that that was my way to go. My mum and dad are good at sports and I’ve got two older brothers who drilled into me how to play. I’m six years younger they made it clear that if I wanted to be involved I was going to get it, so every single game was unbelievably competitive. We’re very competitive, my mum most of all, and when we get on to a tennis court or golf course the family stops. That’s how I grew up, every single day of my life I was playing something, and from about 16 it was cricket. It’s part of the Afrikaans culture, playing it hard and doing your best. But it’s very important to stay humble, that was a very big part of my growing up, not getting big-headed.”
AB went to Afrikaans Hoër Seunsskool in Pretoria, across the road from Loftus Versfeld, where Jacques Rudolph was also a student.
AB is one of those boys who most of us knew at school and both resented and wanted to be. He plays golf off a handicap of two, not having had time to maintain his scratch rating, gave up tennis at the age of 13 when he was in the national squad and did not want to leave home to attend the Nick Bollettieri Academy in Florida, and had an offer to play at fly-half for the Blue Bulls (provincial rugby team). Actually, maybe he was better than the average bloke you knew at school.
If things have come easy to AB, he has inherited his culture’s work ethic. Church and sport are twin religions. “Sundays in church, and whenever I’ve got time off church, cricket and golf.”
MAKING HIS DREAMS COME TRUE
“I was eight years old when I saw Jonty’s world famous run out against Australia in the 1992 World Cup. It really made an impression on me. I remember thinking: this is a cool game! I started dreaming of following in Jonty’s footsteps,” he says. Recognising their son’s cricketing aptitude, AB’s parents decided to send their talented son to Affies. “At that stage I participated in various sports and wasn’t sure what I wanted to focus on. However, when I made the South African Colt team at 16, I realised cricket was something I could pursue professionally. I started working harder. I wanted to be the best in my age group.”
While playing for the South African Schools Eleven, he was spotted by the Titans’ coach Dave Nosworthy. Dave gave him a chance to play for this team against Canada in a 2003 World Cup warm-up game. “It was the first time that I played a televised game. I was very nervous, but I thrive under pressure, especially if people are watching. Life is all about grabbing opportunities. I grabbed the opportunity with both hands,” he says.
He was a star of the South African Under-19 team in England in 2003, and then played for the Carrickfergus Cricket Club in Northern Ireland in 2004. AB says this was a big step in his life as it was the first time he lived away from home. He had to learn to become independent and self-sufficient.
Soon after, AB played for the Northern Titans before being selected to play Test cricket at the tender age of 20 years old. “I love Test cricket,” AB said. “I love the intensity and the pressure, and when I was batting at Durban I couldn’t hear the crowd. When you move from the provincial side into the national side you’ve got doubts, but if the doubts get to you you’ll struggle.”
“Making cricket my career and playing for the national squad are dreams come true. We have been in a learning phase for the past few years—and it has paid off. It’s all about consistency. In the past we may have been guilty of not playing a consistent game. But we have returned to the basics, we know and understand each other and we have worked consistently towards the same goals. We have also stuck to the same ‘brave’ brand of cricket.Widely regarded as the best batsman in the world at present, De Villiers dominated the top of the ICC Test batting rankings in 2014, along with Kumar Sangakara As of January 2015, he is ranked second in the ICC Test and first in the ODI batting rankings.
The son of Dr Abraham B de Villiers, he attended Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Afrikaans High School for Boys, also known as Affies), a public school located in Pretoria. De Villiers is a right-handed batsman, who, in a very short space of time, has accumulated many runs in Tests including 16 centuries and 32 fifties. He still holds the record for most Test innings without registering a duck (78), before being dismissed for nought against Bangladesh in November 2008. He also holds the second-highest individual score by a South African batsman in an innings, with 278*. Until 2012, he was an occasional wicket-keeper for South Africa, although since the retirement of regular Test keeper Mark Boucher and under his own ODI captaincy he has started to regularly keep wicket for the national side in Tests, ODIs and T20Is, but then decided to give up wicketkeeping after the debut of Quinton de Kock, and started becoming a part-time bowler.
AB de Villiers ranked in the first both Test and ODI's batting ranking
South African's cricketer AB de Villiers ranked in the 1st Test batting ranking and was 1st in the ODIs batting ranking. AB de Villiers is talented cricketers. He currently achieved number one position ahead of his team mate Hashim Amla who is second. De Villiers passed India's Virat kohli to move to number one on the ODI ranking, after scoring 189 runs at an average of 63 in the three-match One-Day International series against India. In March, 2012 he reached the top of the test batting ranking. In December 2013, de Villiers became the ninth batsman in the history to top the batting ranking both tests and ODI's.
Fastest Fifty in ODI format During the course of his fastest hundred, De Villiers achieved another glory when he scored his fifty runs in just 16 balls to shatter a 19-year long record of Sanath Jayasuriya. Fastest 150 in ODI format The Proteas were up against the West Indies in the ICC World Cup 2015 and were placed at 146/3 when the skipper stepped in. In what can be called as one of the most ferocious innings by him, De Villiers destroyed the West Indian attack to score 162* runs off 66 balls. This was the fastest 150+ score by a batsman in ODIs. He scored his 150th run on 64th delivery to break the previous record by 19 ball which was held by Shane Watson. He is now the only player to hold the record of scoring the fastest fifty, hundred and 150 at the same time. 2nd Highest individual score in Tests for South Africa De Villiers holds the record of the second highest individual score for South Africa. He scored an unbeaten 278 against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi in the year 2010. Hashim Amla is the only player who has scored a triple hundred for South Africa. Most Test innings by a batsman without a duck De Villiers also holds the record of most number of innings by a batsman in Test cricket without getting out for a duck. He played 78 innings before he was sent back a duck in a match against Bangladesh in the year 2008.
While the media criticism primarily related to a belief South Africa was unnecessarily burdening its best batsman, rather than an indication of his glovework being inadequate, de Villiers conceded he had been stung by the doubts cast, especially during the Proteas' tour of Australia in late 2012.
''A lot of people thought I shouldn't be keeping,'' he said. ''Especially in Australia, I remember there was a lot of writing about it. The amazing thing about writing is you don't hear about it any more. Now you're hearing about how amazing that last knock was, meanwhile a year ago he was writing taking the gloves was the worst decision ever.''
De Villiers said he had a lot of work to do on his glovework, but gave a strong indication that even with the recent debut of 20-year-old wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock - the youngster played as a specialist batsman in the second Test - he wanted to retain the gloves. Given that de Villiers has averaged 66.16 with the bat since taking over as wicketkeeper, and just reached 50 for an unprecedented 12th consecutive Test, there is no cause for an imminent change.
''I want to be the best, absolutely,'' he said. ''I'm nowhere near where I want to be. I'm working hard at my keeping and I still want to become a really world-class keeper.''
During South Africa's first Test thrashing by Australia the Test vice-captain was refreshingly frank about his team's performance, declaring its fielding verged on ''embarrassing'' and that he considered it ''quite obvious that we're in deep trouble and there's only one team playing this Test match at the moment''.
De Villiers said such honesty was a trait he held as very important.
''I've got nothing to hide from anyone, especially in cricketing circles,'' he said. ''I'll tell any person in the world my insecurities, I'll give you my strengths, I'll give you my weaknesses. I'm not shy about that. I'm also not shy to take on my weaknesses and my insecurities. I love it. I'll say in a press conference 'That's where we went wrong, we were scared of doing this and that - but we're going to get better at it.'''
While the way de Villiers plays his cricket brings a lot of joy to Test purists, he insisted his own level of happiness was largely irrelevant to what he did - or did not do - on the field.
''I've always been happy. I always knew I was going to be all right one day [at playing international cricket] - it was just going to take a bit of time,'' he said.
''I've realised that, no matter how much success comes your way, you've still got to go home and be happy - with your wife, with your dog, with - hopefully - kids one day. That's the real stuff.
''I think I've been very lucky to be where I am now - very fortunate, very happy with life. I just don't want to get ahead of myself. If I score 50 hundreds in a row I'll still be the same guy.''