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AB de Villiers: 100th Test for cricket’s Gen X war prince

They have tried to plot AB de Villiers' downfall. They failed. They have been failing for 99 Tests. And the 100th will not be an exception.

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AB de Villiers © Getty Images
AB de Villiers is perhaps the greatest cricketer of his generation © Getty Images

It is almost impossible to believe that that St George’s Park Test is now over a decade old. AB de Villiers could have been any other youngster: he lost Graeme Smith, batted for a while, hit a few crisp boundaries, saw the new ball off, and was trapped leg-before by Andrew Flintoff. He looked confident, but did not come across as special. Of course, he was excellent in the field, but with South Africans you sort of take quality fielding for granted. In fact, what struck me most was that he was known by his initials, just like VVS Laxman. Why, I wondered: Abraham, unlike Vangipurappu, was not difficult to pronounce… FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: India vs South Africa 2nd Test at Bengaluru

Did Abraham become Abe, and then AB? Or was it because his old man was also called Abraham? That, somehow, became my biggest obsession with the man for some time — even after his 92 and 109 at Centurion later that series. By then he looked determined and solid; there were signs of a good batsman in the making.

Our generation has grown up with the impression that Barry Richards and Graeme Pollock were dazzling batsmen who missed out on Test cricket at their prime. Grainy videos and superlative numbers do more than justice to that claim. And then, there was Dudley Nourse, a man from cricket folklore who dared to take on Australia and England.

The South African batsmen of the 1990s and early 2000s, Kepler Wessels and Gary Kirsten and Hansie Cronje and Jacques Kallis, were grim accumulators who wore the bowlers out, playing not-too-attractive-looking strokes with clinical efficiency, piling on runs, pulling off one victory after another.

Even the new lot — Graeme Smith and Ashwell Prince and Jacques Rudolph and Boeta Dippenaar — seldom got out of the South African mould. They were gutsy, professional, solid, and batted with irrefutable temperament; but they were not the glamour-boys of cricket. READ: AB de Villiers’ 100th Test: Another feather in the alien’s cap

There were, of course, the attractive lot — Herschelle Gibbs and Jonty Rhodes and Lance Klusener — but seldom did South Africans accumulate and destroy with equal efficiency. Daryll Cullinan was probably their best bet, but Shane Warne made sure he never made it to the league he was meant for.

Then, almost together, there arrived two men who would change the face of South African batsmanship forever: Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers both average in excess of 50 in both Tests and ODIs, and are also perhaps the most attractive batsmen they have produced since readmission.

Few match Amla in full flow when it comes to elegance. No batsman is as attractive on the front-foot or drives through cover with such silken grace, and keeps conjuring hundreds with a regularity that has eluded some big names of the sport.

Kallis was an all-time great, a legend. Amla is one in the making.

De Villiers, on the other hand, is de Villiers, for cricket has not seen the likes of him. There is a reason why Arunabha Sengupta has called him “God’s gift to cricket,” for that, no less, is what de Villiers is. He is breathtaking, often impossibly so, in the shorter formats — to the extent that it is an almost forgotten fact that his average reads 51.92 on the eve of his 100th Test.

De Villiers, they say, is a freak of nature. What they do not say is, when needed, the same man is transformed into an impregnable wall, holding out against one wave of ruthless attack after another. And then, suddenly, he turns things around, launching a full-blooded assault no batsman can match.

It is the ability of rising to occasions, to adapt to situations, to take control of matches and turn them on their heads, to dominate proceedings, to be at equal ease with the back to the wall or with your side looking for the kill that makes AB special. And for that, you do not need to look beyond the Australia tour of 2012-13. READ: AB de Villiers: Don Bradman of this generation?

It was Faf du Plessis’ series, they would say, and it will not be far from the truth. Faf had indeed announced himself on that tour. But then, there were four sessions left to save the Test at Adelaide Oval when Faf and AB got together at the crease. The score read 45 for 4.

Over four hours he batted, the most feared batsman of all, grinding his way to a 220-ball 33 without a boundary. Nathan Lyon teased him, tossing the ball up, making it land and turn into him; the slog-sweep was cut out; there was no drive against the turn. The fast bowlers kept nagging, bowling on a length, pitching up, trying to bounce, but he was unperturbed: there was a job to be done, and all instincts, if needed, had to be curbed.

The Adelaide fortress stood firm as the sides moved on to WACA. The scenario had changed. South Africa led by 62. They needed quick runs. AB came out in a murderous mood, flogging Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson on his way to a brutal 184-ball 169. South Africa declared on Day Three and won inside four days.

That, of course, was not the first time he clicked at WACA. He was there when Smith and his men had stopped the Australian juggernaut at home. His first-innings 63 restricted Australia’s lead to 94. Then, set to chase 414, he walked out at 179 for 3, with Australia clawing their way back into the match. He added 124 with Kallis and an unbroken 111 with JP Duminy, and that was that. The 186-ball 106 not out was another good day at work. READ: AB de Villiers’s 100th Test: Top 10 Test knocks by the South African superhero

What about the subcontinent? At Motera, in his second Test on Indian soil, South Africa needed a humongous lead after Dale Steyn had routed the hosts for 76. So de Villiers scored 217 not out. That was in 2007-08. When Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene drowned South Africa with their 624-run stand, AB had scored a 72-ball 65 in a team score of 169. In the next Test, he top-scored with a 141-ball 95. As for Pakistan, he decimated them at Abu Dhabi in 2010-11, smashing a mammoth 278 not out, then the highest score for a South African. READ: AB de Villiers: An online journalist’s nightmare

Of the 11 countries in which Test cricket has been played, de Villiers averages more than 40 in 9; Bangladesh and Zimbabwe being the only exceptions (no, there is no typo involved there — did I not tell you they call him a freak of nature?). Take away Tests in Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, and his average rises to 53.21l; his overseas average of 56.69 moves up to 58.20. READ: AB de Villiers’ 100th Test at Bangalore: Home match for a South African against India

Don Bradman averaged 102.84, but had only 2,674 overseas runs. Put a 3,500-run cut-off, and AB’s average is next to only Wally Hammond’s 58.45 — bloated by his 642 runs at 321 in New Zealand, minnows of his era.

They have tried to dissect his numbers to form a pattern. They probably did.

They have tried to find a pattern in his strokeplay. They probably did.

They have tried to find his weaknesses. They probably did.

They have tried to plot his downfall. They failed. They have been failing for 99 Tests. And the 100th will not be an exception. READ: AB de Villiers: The Punisher

(Abhishek Mukherjee is the Chief Editor at CricketCountry and CricLife. He blogs here and can be followed on Twitter here.)

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