Debut of AB de Villiers in international cricket

AB de Villiers

South Africa’s brliiant middle-order batsman, AB de Villiers, made his Test match debut during the 2004-05 England tour of South Africa. de Villiers opened the batting in the match for the Proteas alongside South African skipper Greame Smith, scoring 28 and 14 respectively in the two innings.

South African pacer Dale Steyn also made his South Africa Test debut in the same match. De Villiers has since batted at all positions in the Test batting line-up, from number one to number eight (barring number three), and has performed well at almost all of these positions.

In February 2005, de Villiers played his first One Day International for South Africa at Bloemfontein. De Villiers again opened the batting for South Africa but only managed to score 20 in the match, which ended in a nerve-wracking tie, with both teams scoring 270 each from their 50 overs.

De Villiers has since gone on to break many a record with the bat. He became the first South African cricketer to hit a double century against India in April 2008 (214*) and also holds the record for the second highest individual score by a South African in Test cricket (278* Vs Pakistan at Abu Dhabi, 2010). De Villiers is also an outstanding fielder who has affected many a brilliant run-out and plucked some breath-taking catches over the years. Since 2012, de Villiers has donned the wicket-keeping gloves for South Africa, following the retirement of regular wicket-keeper Mark Boucher.