Herschelle Gibbs and AB de Villiers celebrate series win in Pakistan

International cricket did make its way to Pakistan earlier this year with Zimbabwe agreeing to tour but the country was bereft of hosting international cricket for six long years. South African batsman AB de Villiers, who is widely recognised as the best batsman in the world, has toured Pakistan only once in his career. The 2007-08 tour saw South Africa win the Test series 1-0 and ODI series 3-2. De Villiers made decent contribution in both.

In the Test series, he scored 131 runs at 43.66 and in ODIs; he stepped up another notch, scoring 173 runs at 57.66. He and Gibbs shared 137-run stand in the first ODI at Lahore. Gibbs scored 102, while AB smacked an unbeaten 95-ball 103. The series was a close fought contest which South Africa won it 3-2.

Gibbs, who is now in Pakistan, remembered the series win from South Africa’s last tour to Pakistan and posted a picture of him and de Villiers on Instagram celebrating with the trophy. The then 23-year-old de Villiers definitely looks very thrilled with the win. Gibbs wrote, “Seeing that I am in Pakistan for a few days, throwback to winning the ODI series in Lahore with a young AB de Villiers. (sic)”