What makes AB de Villiers the most complete batsman in the world?

AB de Villiers, after playing the perfect cover drive

There are almost half a dozen players who are vying for the honour of being considered as the best batsman of the world post Sachin Tendulkar’s career. Among themselves, almost all of them have a particular poison. Virat Kohli’s date with off-stump uncertainty, Hashim Amla’s, Michael Clarke’s and Kumar Sangakarra’s inability to score like thunder and lightning and MS Dhoni’s lack of scores abroad are chinks in their otherwise ironclad magically approved armour.

Almost, I said. All but one. Who, you ask? Drumroll, please. Intense drumroll. And it ends with bam! Amid the smokescreen, rises the man with no weakness, the man who knows no mortality, the one who cannot be slain until he so desires, the man with a name worthy of the kings.

2011 - This man makes his way to the Royal Challengers Bangalore setup. And all of a sudden, after a couple of innings, everyone is ga-ga over his prowess. The girls are drooling over his looks. He is considered to be one of the best T20 players to bless the game.

Okay, in typical possessive fashion, the people like you need to shut up. And girls, there are way better chocolate boys, why don’t you try err, David Miller? Or Virat Kohli? Whoever, just leave him alone. If you want to talk about Abraham Benjamin de Villiers, talk about his cool composed nature, his graceful off drives, his rock solid defence, his immense unyielding team play and the like.

If anything, his only downfall is the T20 game, contrary to popular belief. And the reason for the same is the boundaries he pushes himself to. A man who can easily play at a strike-rate of 160-170 every game is hell bent on going at 2 runs a ball, often leading to a premature dismissal.

But when this ‘T20’ player graces Tests and ODIs, you’ll be forgiven for thinking that there are actually three identical brothers – one for each format. One can only watch in bewilderment as to how a guy can score a century is 50 balls in T20 can also play 220 balls for 33 runs at a strike rate of 15 when the situation demands.

The versatility of AB de Villiers

This is one aspect that is out of reach of any other batsman in the world, in the history of the game. De Villiers, apart from having a yawning gap in strike rates as the situation demands, has also played in all positions starting from 1 to 8 in Test matches.

In fact, the technique of the Protean is so airtight that he was actually handed a Test cap way ahead of him being handed one in the one-day arena. Never having been dropped since making his respective debuts says a ton about his impact on the South African team. Rather, the question that is of more importance today is how to take maximum advantage of this genius over all three formats of the game. At times, this has led to him being over burdened, but he has taken the responsibility chest on.

There are hitters. There are sloggers. But as Brad Hodge says, there is one ‘cultured slogger’, named AB de Villiers who takes T20 batting to another level altogether. Have a look at the following video.

A wide ball slog-swept over the midwicket boundary. The next slightly closer to the bat hit straight over the bowler. Shortish slower ball flat batted over the covers. The inevitable length ball scooped from outside off over short fine leg’s head. No, not Ashok Dinda or Ishant Sharma, de Villiers did this to Dale Steyn, the highlight being a near-yorker on middle stump lofted over extra cover for six, a couple of years before this onslaught.

“AB de Villiers the best player in the world by far. He’s shown it every now and then and it’s a pleasure to watch him play. Today was one of the days where we needed someone to put his hand up and perform and that’s the best knock in a T20 game I’ve ever seen,” said Virat Kohli, after AB’s demolition of Steyn en route to scoring 89 off just 41 balls

This says only one-third of the 30-year-old’s story. His one-day and Test form have been nothing short of phenomenal either.

AB de Villiers in Tests and ODIs

De Villiers at home against Saeed Ajmal

AB holds the rather unique record of playing the most innings without a duck since his debut in Test cricket. Between December 2004 and November 2008, de Villiers played 78 Test innings and was off the mark every single time, before the 2nd Test of the 2008-09 series against Bangladesh. He also was the first South African to register a double ton against India, a feat he achieved on Indian soil. In fact, he held the record for the highest individual score by a South African for a while as well, passing the mantle to Amla in 2012.

To be honest, de Villiers had an ordinary Test record till the end of 2008. However, since 2009, de Villiers has raised eyeballs with his numbers in both Tests and ODIs. Compared to a rather decent Test average of less than 42 before 2009, his post-2009 average has shot up to 61.20, a leap of around 50%.

ODIs were not left far behind, with the average going up from 36.40 to 62.67, a rise of almost 72%. Along with it, the strike rate has been more than a run a ball - he has 4450 runs off 4384 balls during the same period. The Pretoria-born superstar is also the only batsman during this period to average more than 60 in both Tests and ODIs, showing enormous consistency and versatility.

Speaking of versatility and completeness, de Villiers has scored consistently in all parts of the world in Tests, barring India and Sri Lanka, where he has played only 2 Tests each. He averages above 40 in all other parts of the world including a staggering 165 and 116.20 in West Indies and UAE respectively.

Another very interesting aspect is that he averages more than 63.3 when he comes out to bat generally at no. 5 in Tests thereby showing that when the chips are down the charismatic South African never fails to deliver.

In ODIs, he is indisputably the best player in this period, boasting of the highest batting average since 2009 and also scoring them at a mind boggling pace. Also remarkable about de Villiers is the way he scores his runs. Even though he has a relatively low boundary percentage, his dot-ball percentage is extremely low - he is the only player with a below-40% dot ratio among players having more than 2,000 runs during the period.

Though he finished 1st in the batsmen ratings for Tests as well as ODIs at the end of 2013 and currently sits at 2nd in Test and 1st in ODI rankings, a lesser known fact is that de Villiers has the 10th and 15th highest overall cricket rating since the inception of the game, speaking volumes of his class and consistency.

The non-statistical aspect to AB de Villiers’s game

“Yes, he is without a doubt," VVS Laxman said when asked if de Villiers was the most complete batsman in the modern era.

“Like Maxwell, AB can play shots all around the wicket. He has got three or four shots for one delivery. There is nothing that he cannot do when he is batting. He is quick on his feet and in his thought process. To execute some of the shots he has played, one has to have a quick mind, which he has done effectively not only to mediocre bowlers but also to the best in the business. He is quick on his feet, always thinking, and an exceptional runner between the wickets, which makes him a complete cricketer," the former Indian batsman added.

The calibre, class and panache of AB can simply not be measured by any statistical formula. When he drives, he looks like a statue of elegance. When he defends, the pose is akin to the textbook, not an inch here or there. His pull and hook tell the bowlers he’s not the one to be intimidated by balls intended to harm his body. His sweeps and reverse sweeps show his cheeky, laidback and easy going approach and character. Speaking of character, he has more character than anyone else in the world, often taking single handed blame for the defeat as a captain or batsman, showing how high he expects from himself.

Bowlers struggle to adapt to de Villiers’s unpredictable batting

His game is devoid of any weakness whatsoever, barring that of going for the overkill, reminiscent of the fearless Tendulkar of the old. He plays with the fielding positions like a yo-yo as he has 3-4 shots for every kind of ball and all he does is play the ball in the available gap. His catching is so safe that if the ball falls anywhere near him, the batsman must be deemed out, for his hands are safer than a pack of houses. Add to that, he kept wickets when the situation so demanded and you have another Rahul Dravid in the making – a player who would die for the team.

At 95 Tests, 168 ODIs, 57 T20s and the age of 30, de Villiers has a lot left to deliver for his team. Perhaps the only international player who has the chance to play more than 180 Tests among the current crop, he has the chance to be the best player of his generation, and going by the current scenario, he is well on the way there. His ability and will to dominate attacks and respect bowlers is next to none at the moment.

There are a few players who do a bit of everything. There are fewer who do well in everything they do. However, there is no player who defines completeness as much as AB de Villiers does.