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There’s no doubt AB de Villiers is entering the twilight of his career.
At 34 years of age he already has 14 years of international cricket under his belt. We now have enough information to rate him alongside the past’s great cricketers. Is he an all-time great?
Let’s start with Test cricket. De Villiers’s 8338 runs at 49.92 is certainly outstanding. No matter what era you have played in, to average 50 over 110 matches must have you up there with the greats. However, if we break this down a bit more, it’s not so pretty for De Villiers.
The South African averages above 50 against Zimbabwe, higher than 60 against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and 84 against the West Indies. With all due respect to those nations, they haven’t exactly been filled with success over the last decade or so.
Against Australia he averages an excellent 48.26. It is 42 against England, a decent drop on his overall average. It is sub-40 against New Zealand and India.
(AP Photo/Theron Kirkman)
The case for De Villiers is that he’s a better batsman overseas than he is at home. Virat Kohli’s away average of 45, is not bad, though quite a bit down on his average of 63 at home. David Warner may average 59 at home, but he manages only 36 away from Australia.
De Villiers averages 50.68 away and 45.90 at home. Other players to average over 50 away in the modern era include Kumar Sangakkara, Steve Smith and Joe Root –
certainly quality company.
In the one-day game there can be no doubt he is a great. In fact his numbers stack up so well that he must be considered among the top five to have ever played the format.
He has played just 20 more matches than Virat Kohli and has an inferior record to him but, let’s face it, so does everyone else. However, it isn’t too far behind. Kohli averages 58, ABD averages 53, both are brilliant.
(AAP Image/ Joe Castro)
ABD’s strike rate is over 100, which is breathtaking for a player who has made over 9000 runs. No-one has matched him in this department. For the record Kohli stands at an impressive 92.
His 25 centuries is down on Kohli’s 35, but Kohli has gone beyond what anyone has ever done in terms of churning out centuries, and 25 is a great return.
In terms of centuries ABD has scored half the amount Sachin Tendulkar has – 25 compared to 49 – and his 228 games is around half Tendulkar’s total of 463. Sachin isn’t a bad person to have a similar record with.
ABD is missing a world cup trophy in the middle format of the sport. He looked absolutely shattered after South Africa’s heartbreaking defeat to New Zealand in the 2015 tournament. He has one more chance to rectify his by influencing his nation’s fortunes at next year’s competition in England and Wales.
Is ABD an all-time great? In one-dayers the answer is clear, but in Test cricket the data is debatable.
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