30 best AB de Villiers images to commemorate the end of an illustrious career

Goodbye Mr. 360

AB de Villiers announced his international retirement just four days after his IPL side, Royal Challengers Bangalore got knocked out of the tournament. ABD's retirement announcement through Twitter surprised the cricketing world as everyone expected him to play the 2019 World Cup.

A few excerpts from his message on Twitter read as follows:

"I've had my turn and, to be honest, I'm tired."

"This is a tough decision. I've thought long and hard about it and I'd like to retire still playing decent cricket.

"It would not be right for me to pick and choose where, when and in what format I play for the Proteas."

"For me, in green and gold, it must be everything or nothing."

All throughout his career, he was a nightmare for bowlers due to his ability to send the ball to all parts of the ground. His antics with the bat led to him being given the nickname Mr. 360.

Test Career:

AB de Villiers first made his international debut for South Africa against England on 17 December 2004 at St. George's Park. Starting from that match, he represented South Africa in 420 international fixtures.

In the 114 test matches he played, he scored 8765 runs at an average of 50.66. His test career includes 22 centuries and 46 half-centuries. Even though his highest score of 278 came against Pakistan in 2010 in Abu Dhabi, it was his first double century, 217* versus India in Ahmedabad in April 2008 that shaped his career

After dismissing the hosts for just 76 in the first-innings, de Villiers with his 333-ball innings helped South Africa make a first innings total of 494/7d in turning conditions against an Indian spin attack which included the likes of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.

The Proteas went on to win the match by an enormous margin of an innings and 90 runs with AB rightfully picking up the man-of-the-match award.

One-day career:

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AB de Villiers had an illustrious one-day career in which he scored 9577 with an average of 53.5. In the 218 innings that he played, he scored 25 centuries and 53 half-centuries with a strike rate of 101.1. What's more staggering is the number of balls that he took to score the runs. He is the fastest batsmen to 9000 runs, that too, in just 9005 balls.

de Villiers' highest score in ODIs came last year against Bangladesh at Paarl. He scored 176 runs off just 104 balls and helped his side set a huge target of 354. On way to his highest score, he scored 15 fours and 7 sixes and ended his innings with a strike rate of 169.23. He was given the man of the match award after the completion of South Africa's 104 run victory.

T20I career:

While the champion player aced both the ODI and Test rankings, he was a bit less devastating, compared to his standards, playing for the national side in the shortest format. His best T20 ranking was 14 and he retired with a T20 ranking of 31, which are in no way close to his ODI(2) and Test(6) rankings at the time of retirement.

In the 75 innings that he played for South Africa, de Villiers scored 1672 runs with an average of 26.12. For reasons unknown, his strike rate of 135.16 in international T20 matches is less than his overall T20 strike rate of 147.91.

In spite of him not meeting his standard in T20Is, his mere presence in the team was a cause of concern for the opposition as everyone is well aware of his capabilities.

Faf-ABD partnership:

The friendship between AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis goes a long way. Long before playing for their national team, both of them played in the same age group sides and even shared the same hostel room during their years at Affies from 1998 to 2002. From being room-mates in school to playing together and they both even went on to become the captains of their national side.

The best partnership between these two South African captains came against Australia in 2014, in what was then their second right highest successful run-chase. ABD joined Faf in the middle after South African lost both their openers at the end of the ninth over.

The two South African stalwarts went on to score their hundreds and put together a 206-run partnership. Even though Faf got out for 106 in the 38th over, de Villiers finished the job for his side as they chased down a target of 328 with 20 balls to spare. AB de Villiers was awarded the man of the match for his unbeaten 106-ball 136.

Fastest ODI 50-100-150 from 16-31-64 balls:

50-100:

On January 18th, 2015, de Villers destroyed the West Indies at the Wanderers as he broke the record for the fastest fifty and hundred in ODI history. He also equalled the record for most sixes in an innings as he struck 16 maximums in his 44 ball knock of 149 that helped South Africa reach 439-2 from their 50 overs. AB scored his runs at the ridiculous strike-rate of 338.63 runs per 100 balls.

150:

In less than two months after scoring the fastest 50 and 100, AB de Villiers again plundered the West Indies team in the 2015 World Cup. In the group match against WI, he scored a mammoth 162 runs off just 66 balls. On his way to his then highest ODI score, he broke the record for the fastest 150 in ODI cricket. In the last over of the match, he scored 30 runs off the bowling of Jason Holder and reached 150-mark on the fourth delivery, before finishing off the innings with two more sixes.

Fielding:

AB de Villiers is an excellent fielder and he has proven that time and again as he has taken 248 catches for his team in 388 innings.

Just like Jonty Rhodes, who has been an inspiration to ABD, de Villiers is also a great fielder and was seen throwing himself at the ball on many occasions.

He is renowned for his incredible athleticism in the field. This run-out of Simon Katich at Port Elizabeth back in 2006 is perhaps one of the greatest pieces of fielding in ODI history.

Fielding in close at extra-cover, de Villiers denied the Australian left-hander the single he needed to reach his half-century with an excellent pickup and tumbling, off-balance throw.

Wicketkeeping and bowling:

de Villiers played kept the wickets for South Africa in 130 innings and has affected as many as 232 dismissals i.e. 215 catches and 17 stumpings. In total, the South African legend has taken 463 catches in 430 matches.

He bats, he keeps, he also bowls a bit - there is nothing that ABD can't do. de Villiers has 9 international scalps to his name. He has bowled for South Africa on 8 occasions in ODI cricket and in the eight innings, he picked up 7 wickets from 30 overs.

In test matches, he bowled on 5 occasions. Both his wickets came against West Indies at St. Johns in 2005. The match featured eight batsmen scoring 100+ scores including AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle, who scored 317.

2015 World Cup Semifinal loss:

It was a heartbreaking moment for many cricket fans to see South Africa lose yet again in a semi-final match of the 2015 World Cup. AB de Villiers gave his everything in the tournament as he scored 482 runs with an average of 96.40.

In the rain-curtailed semifinal match against New Zealand, AB de Villiers provided the perfect end to the Proteas innings with a 45-ball 65. In spite of the wonderful finish provided by ABD and Miller, South Africa could not defend the total as Brendon McCullum's blitzkrieg at the start helped the Blackcaps win the match with one ball to spare.

If there is one thing that hurts most cricket fans, then it would be the fact that this cricketing legend has retired without lifting any ICC silverware.

Indian Premier League:

AB de Villiers was with the Delhi Daredevils for the first three years and later moved his base to Bangalore. In total, ABD has scored 3953 runs IPL of which 3282 were for the Bangalore based franchise.

Along with Virat Kohli, the two have batted together excellently on many occasions in the last eight season. The two highest partnerships recorded in IPL history, 229 and 215*, came from the bats of these two RCB stalwarts.

Even though de Villiers scored three centuries in IPL, his best IPL innings definitely has to be the 47-ball 79 against Gujarat Lions in Qualifier 1 of 2016. Chasing a target of 169, RCB were in deep-deep trouble as they lost five wickets for just 29 runs before the completion of powerplay overs.

For the seventh wicket, de Villiers along with Iqbal Abdulla put together an unbeaten 91-run partnership to help their side reach the finals, which they eventually lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad.