AB de Villiers, ‘the superman of cricket’, retired suddenly. One of the greatest batsmen of the cricketing world and loved by fans across the globe, de Villiers left behind a mountain of records that are hard to conquer.
Here are a few records of AB de Villiers that are unbreakable:
- Holds the records for the world’s fastest One Day International (ODI) 50 and 100: De Villiers smacked the ball across the park against West Indies for the 50 which came off in 16 balls on 18 January 2015. He broke the 19-year-old record of Sanath Jayasuriya by one ball.
- 2. He is the only player after Shahid Afridi to have got both ODI fastest 50 and 100 in the same match: Continuing his innings after he scored the fastest 50, ABD got the century in 31 balls. In the match, he ended with 149 runs off 44 balls.
- He holds the records for the world’s fastest ODI 150: On 27 February 2015, ABD took 64 deliveries to reach 150 against West Indies, beating the previous best, set by Australia’s Shane Watson, by 19 balls.
- He holds the record for the fastest Test century by a South African: He scored 100 in 75 balls against India at Centurion in 2010-11 season.
- And the fastest Twenty20 International (T20I) 50 by a South African: De Villiers got the 50 in 21 balls playing against England in Johannesburg on 21 February 2016.
- He also holds the record for playing the most Test innings for South Africa without registering a duck: He was dismissed for nought against Bangladesh in November 2008 after he played the first 78 innings of his Test career.
- De Villiers is called ‘Mr. 360’ because of his unorthodox shots behind the wicket-keeper and slips.
- With 278 (not out), de Villiers is the second-highest individual scorer for South Africa.
- De Villiers is counted among the world’s greatest fielders akin to fellow South African Jonty Rhodes.
- On 4 April 2008, de Villiers smashed 217 (not out) to become the first South African to score a Test double century against India. On 20 November 2010, he scored his second double century, not out on 278, against Pakistan.
- In the 2011 World Cup, de Villiers became the first South African to slam two back-to-back 100s.