AB de Villiers - An insight into why he is a true legend of modern sport

Professional Cricket

It was just a matter of choosing one sport out of the lot. He did focus more of his attention to cricket after he left school. Destiny was probably at work here as well, because he was spotted by the Titan’s coach Dave Nosworthy while he was playing for the SA U-19s, who straightaway invited him to play for the Titans, seeing his talents.

He got his first opportunity to play really soon, when Canada toured South Africa and he was part of the side, although a controversial selection seeing that he was only 19 at that time. But he scored a century playing in the game, as if by habit of grabbing an opportunity when the right one presented itself, which was a constant highlight of his early life.

Following this, he signed a contract with the Titans at the insistence of Nosworthy who told him to move away from University cricket and consider cricket as a career. He made four consecutive fifties in his first four provincial innings. He even scored some big hundreds as part of the Carrickfergus Cricket club of Ireland, after which he was started being talked about everywhere and soon got a call from the South Africa A team.

Coincidentally, South Africa was not doing so well at that time and the selectors were looking to bring in fresh talent to the side. Sure enough, de Villiers was spotted and he made his Test debut in December 2004 against England at Port Elizabeth, and his ODI debut 2 months later against the same opposition.

He is now an integral part of the South African side in all formats. He has kept wickets since Boucher retired as well. To sum it up, de Villiers is a magic spell that happened to South African cricket. He says, “Success is 99% self-belief. You have to be confident in your abilities. And hard work comes naturally if you have a passion for something.”

Life outside cricket

He is married to Danielle Swart, his girlfriend for 6 years, who he met for the first time on her father’s farm outside Bela Bela in Limpopo. She accompanied him to watch him as he took part in the latest edition of the IPL, in which he plays for the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

When asked about whether his love for the game would make him play the game for so long as he turns 40, he had this to say, “No. Not to 40. There is no chance. I think there is more to life than just playing cricket for 25 years. I will definitely find the right time to retire. When I start my family I am definitely going to retire. I am not going to wait till I am 40.”

He has a certain interest in music too. Along with his friend Ampie du Preez, he even released a song titled ‘Show them who you are’, which became really popular and was sung as an anthem when South Africa triumphed against Australia in 2009.

He carries around his guitar on his cricket tours and is still involved in song-writing and singing, and together with his friend has produced many other songs after his initial success.

Apart from this, he is involved in social work with the Make a Difference Foundation that helps underprivileged children, and is also a partner in his brother’s fast-food business. His is certainly a dynamic personality who has achieved so much over the years and is an inspiration for all others who play the sport along with him and his countrymen.

He can truly be called a Jack of All Trades.