The match that turned around AB de Villiers' career
No one is ever born a genius, they become geniuses; this is something that holds true for sportsmen as well. An individual may have bundles of talent but it all goes to waste if not utilised in a proper manner.
The game of cricket offers several examples of how prodigiously talented players were unable to meet their potential and also of some who went on to fulfil the prophecies made about them at the initial stages of their careers.
When you talk about supremely talented cricketers who did full justice to their abilities, there has always been a moment or two in their respective careers which served as a turning point and put them on the track to immeasurable success. For some it has happened early on, while for the others it has come at a much later stage.
We all know that AB de Villiers is arguably the best batsman in world cricket today, but he too had a major turning point in his career which transformed him into the unstoppable force that he is now. de Villiers made a more than decent start to his career and had quickly established himself as a permanent fixture in the South African team across formats.
In April 2008, he went on to score the first double century of his career against India at Ahmedabad. However, in the other two Tests in the same series, AB de Villiers managed to score just 87 runs. Two months later, the Proteas team visited England for a tour which included 4 Tests and 5 ODIs.
The first Test, which was played at Lord's, saw South Africa enforce a draw after being asked to follow on by England. de Villiers scored 42 from 119 balls in the South African 1st innings score of 247 and was guilty of throwing his wicket away after having done all the hard work to settle down.
This performance did not go down too well with Proteas skipper Graeme Smith and coach Mickey Arthur. They approached AB and gave him a good old dressing down in an effort to make him realise that he was just wasting away his talent.
The two of them were frank enough and made it clear to the young batsman that the time had come that he delivered to all the promise he had shown in his early career.
Come the 2nd Test of the series in Headingley, the change in the way AB de Villiers approached his batting was visible for everyone to see. He went on to score 174, which set up an emphatic win for South Africa by 10 wickets. The words of Smith and Arthur had worked wonders and made the prodigiously talented batsman realize his true potential.
Even the career stats of AB de Viliiers are a proof of how he transformed after the 2008 Lord’s Test. Until after that game, the phenomenal batsman had scored 2,613 runs at a mere 39.59 with 5 centuries. As opposed to that, his career record today shows 7770 runs against his name in 100 Tests at a brilliant average of 52.41 and he has scored 21 tons already.
AB de Villiers’ ODI career has also gone up leaps and bounds since the same match as his average has gone up from 37.66 to 54.21 and he now has added 20 more centuries to his previous tally of 3.
Apart from his prowess as a batsman, what is also different about the AB de Villiers that we know today is the responsibility that he takes on his shoulders every time he walks in to bat.
From being a prodigiously talented yet slightly reckless youngster, he has gone on to become a modern-day great who is well aware of the value that he brings not only to his team but also to the entire cricketing world.
The chants of ABD, ABD that engulf stadiums wherever he plays are a testimony to the respect he has managed to earn. But you wonder if all this would have been possible had this turning point in his career not come about. He may still have been a good player but probably not the world beater he is now.
By the time his career is over, AB de Villiers would have achieved many more milestones and broken several records. But he may never forget that one match because of which he was able to effect a turnaround of epic proportions and become one of the best in the world.