Former Proteas batsman AB de Villiers has been inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
The 40-year-old is widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketers to play the game. Despite having not reached 10 000 runs for his country in both the One Day International and Test format, the man nicknamed ‘Mr 360’ is still ranks amonst the best 10 batsmen of all-time.
On Wednesday morning, the ICC named AB de Villiers in the Cricket Hall of Fame, three years after he had retired.
“De Villers first showed his attacking game on the biggest stage at the 2007 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, making his maiden ODI century in a Super 8s match against hosts West Indies, fighting a combination of cramps, heat exhaustion and dehydration at the backend of his knock,” the ICC said.
AB de Villiers is the best Proteas batsman in ODI and T20 formats
“Successful one-day international outings followed, and four years later de Villiers shone again at a global tournament, becoming the first South African man to score two centuries at the same World Cup, doing so in consecutive innings.”
De Villiers took over the T20I and ODI captaincy reins in June 2011, winning ODI Player of the Series honours against Sri Lanka in his first assignment. Leading the team at the 2015 Cricket World Cup, extra responsibilities proved no burden, as he made 482 runs at 96 and a strike rate of 2015 on the way to a semi-final finish. De Villiers struck 162 off just 66 balls against the West Indies at the SCG in the campaign and finished the tournament as the No.1 ranked ODI batter in the ICC Rankings.
For six years, AB de Villiers captain the Proteas in all three formants of the game. During that time, his side narrowly lost out on the 2015 World Cup semi-final.
How good was de Villiers in his playing days?
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