New Delhi [India], Feb 17 (ANI): Former South Africa cricketer AB de Villiers, commonly referred to as ‘Mr.360’, is renowned for playing the most unorthodox shots.
As the ace batsman celebrates his 37th birthday, let’s relive de Villiers’ fastest knocks in cricket. The records of the batsman stand to date, and no one has come closer to breaking them in ODI cricket.
On January 18, 2015, de Villiers registered the fastest century in the 50-over format. He achieved the feat against West Indies in the second ODI of the five-match series at Johannesburg.
AB de Villiers registered the fastest 50 and 100 in the same match. The batsman brought up his century off just 31 balls and he surpassed New Zealand’s Corey Anderson (36) to bring up the fastest century in ODIs.
ABD was finally dismissed for 149 off just 44 deliveries in the match. These heroics from ‘Mr.360’ enabled South Africa to post 439/2 in the allotted twenty overs and they went on to defeat West Indies by 148 runs.
Later in 2015, De Villiers recorded the fastest 150 in ODI cricket against West Indies during the 2015 Cricket World Cup in just 64 balls.
Giving the fans something to rejoice, de Villiers revealed last year that he is considering to come out of retirement to play the Men’s T20 World Cup.
“I would love to. I’ve been talking to ‘Bouch’ (new South Africa coach Mark Boucher), (new director of cricket) Graeme Smith and (captain) Faf (du Plessis) back home, we’re all keen to make it happen,” cricket.com.au had quoted De Villiers as saying.
“So I’m thinking of throwing my name in the hat and hoping that everything will work out,” he added.
The 35-year-old had announced his retirement from international cricket on May 23, 2018. However, he tried to stage a comeback in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 but was not able to reach an agreement with the management.
The ICC T20 World Cup will be played later this year in India. However, before that, he is set to be seen in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in IPL 2021. (ANI)