5 great innings by AB de Villiers that prove he is an underrated Test batsman

#1 65 & 35 vs India, Cape Town (2018)

AB de Villiers entered into a zone of his own to orchestrate the Protean fight back.

Last year, during the ICC Champions Trophy in June, there were reports that AB de Villiers was suffering from a hamstring issue and needed time to recover from it.

Therefore, the former South Africa captain took a break from the longest format of the game, but, many believed that his Test career was over.

Despite playing international cricket for 13 years, when De Villiers walked out to bat in the first Test of the ongoing series against India at Cape Town, he had a lot to prove.

But, the Superman did not show any signs of nerves and went after the Indian bowlers from the word go to score an 84-ball 65.

The hosts were reduced to 12/3 in the first five overs courtesy a hostile bowling spell from Bhuvneshwar Kumar but De Villiers did not get flustered by the events happening around him and entered into a zone of his own to orchestrate the Protean fight back.

The 34-year-old launched a counter-attack on Bhuvneshwar, who ran through South Africa's top order, to ensure that the home team reached a respectable total of 286 in the first innings.

Even during the second innings, De Villiers fought a lone battle and scored 35 off 50 balls before the hosts suffered a massive collapse and were bundled out on 130, their second-lowest Test total at home against the Indians.

Eventually, the tourists faltered in the chase and lost the match by 72 runs as AB de Villiers proved to be the differentiator between the two teams in a low-scoring encounter. The 33-year-old also validated the fact that he is still the nucleus of South Africa's batting order and is far from finished.