There are almost half a dozen players who are vying for the honour of being considered the best batsman in the world after Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement. Among them, almost all have a particular poison: Virat Kohli’s date with off-stump uncertainty; Hashim Amla’s, Michael Clarke’s and Kumar Sangakarra’s inability to score like thunder and lightning; and MS Dhoni’s lack of scores abroad are chinks in their otherwise ironclad, magically approved armour.
All but one. Who, you ask? Drumroll, please. Intense drumroll. And it ends with bang! Amid the smokescreen, rises the man with no weakness, the man who knows no mortality, the one who cannot be slain until he desires, the man with a name worthy of the kings—Abraham Benjamin De Villiers.
In short, he is the face of the modern cricketer—the batsman who knows no limits to strokeplay, for whom audacity is no fetter for temperament. He is someone who can rule the batting world in Test cricket while still remaining the best exponent of the reverse sweep and perching at the pinnacle of One-Day Internationals as well. A hundred and a world record-equaling eleven catches in the same Test match just about manage to scratch the surface of his versatility. Even when he does not don the big gloves, he remains an electric fielder—perhaps the best produced by South Africa since Jhonty Rhodes. And one knows this is tantamount to outshining a constellation of extraordinary brilliance; the Protean cricketers have not exactly dragged their feet since the days Rhodes patrolled cover point.
De Villiers is not known as well as he should be for a player of such immense talent, and performances to match. But part of his reputation that has spread far and wide is how obscenely talented he is. He was playing off scratch in golf by his mid-teens, soon after he was ranked in the top two in his age division for tennis in South Africa, but shunned both sports because neither afforded him the team aspect he craved. Rugby, hockey (temporarily), swimming and cricket were the beneficiaries of that, before he settled on the latter.
He has been spectacular over the past five years, which makes the case stronger for him to be considered the world’s best batsman at the moment. Since the beginning of 2009, de Villiers has racked up eye-popping numbers in both Tests and ODIs. Compared to a Test average of less than 42 before 2009, his post-2009 average has shot up to 64, a leap of more than 53%. He has averaged more than 55 in each of his last six Test series, four of which have been against Australia and Pakistan, and one each against India and New Zealand. The last time he averaged below 40 in a series was in February 2010, in a two-Test series in India, when he scored 68 from three innings; since then, in 13 series, he averaged more than 100 three times, between 50 and 99 six times, and between 40 and 49 on four occasions. Similarly, his ODI numbers have soared as well, with the average going up from 36.40 to 62.51, a rise of almost 72%. Along with that, the strike rate has gone up to very nearly a run a ball. De Villiers is also the only batsman during this period to average more than 60 in both Tests and ODIs.
The calibre, class and panache of AB can simply not be measured by any statistical formula. When he drives, he looks like a statue of elegance. When he defends, the pose is akin to the textbook; not an inch here or there. His pull and hook tell the bowlers he’s not the one to be intimidated by balls intended to harm his body. His sweeps and reverse sweeps show his cheeky, laidback and easy going approach and character. Speaking of character, he has more character than anyone else in the world, often taking single handed blame for the defeat as a captain or batsman, showing how high he expects from himself. Add to that, he kept wickets when the situation so demanded and you have another Rahul Dravid in the making—a player who would die for the team. He is a complete cricketer who could almost do anything on a cricket field.
Ab de Villiers once said:
”I’ve always been happy. I always knew I was going to be all right one day—it was just going to take a bit of time. I’ve realized 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.”
Apart from this, he is involved in social work with the Make a Difference Foundation that helps underprivileged children, and is also a partner in his brother’s fast-food business. His is certainly a dynamic personality who has achieved so much over the years and is an inspiration for all others who play the sport along with him and his countrymen. No wonder he is rated so highly by many and is held in such high regard. Many youngsters have often spoken why he is the most approachable teammate of all. With the World Cup less than four months away, watch out for this man. He could be the man to lead South Africa to their first ever World Cup victory.
He can truly be called as a Jack of All Trades.
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