VIDEO: AB de Villiers as a schoolboy rugby star

AB de Villiers is undoubtedly one of the most talented South African sportsman of all time, having forged an illustrious career with the Proteas.

He was also known as a schoolboy sports prodigy, and initially there were thoughts that he could go on to represent the Springboks.

In a memorable video recently shared to social media, AB de Villiers can be seen showing off his natural rugby talent as a flyhalf for Affies before he began to shift his focus solely to cricket.

YOU CAN LOOK BACK AT THAT AB DE VILLIERS CLIP BELOW:

Last year, the International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed that AB de Villiers was one of the latest three cricketing icons inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame as the Class of 2024.

The ICC Hall of Fame was launched in January 2009 as part of the ICC’s centenary celebrations.

Since then, it has helped celebrate the greatest players ever to have graced the game during its long and illustrious history.

De Villiers enjoyed a remarkable career spanning 14 years, during which he hit over 20 000 international runs across all three formats.

An innovative stroke-maker with an eye for the spectacular, as well as excelling in Test and T20I cricket, the South African set records for the fastest fifty, century and 150 in ODI cricket to earn a reputation of being one of the most feared, destructive batters in the history of the game.

AB de Villiers

114 Tests – 8,765 runs at an average of 50.66 plus 222 catches & 5 stumpings

228 ODIs – 9,577 runs at an average of 53.50 plus 176 catches & 5 stumpings

78 T20Is – 1,672 runs at an average of 26.12 plus 65 catches & 7 stumpings

De Villiers made his debut for South Africa in 2004 and by the end of his first series, he had scored his first Test century, as well as having established himself as a superb wicket-keeper.

A glittering Test career followed – an unbeaten innings of 278 against Pakistan at Abu Dhabi in 2010 was briefly the highest individual score for South Africa in Test cricket and three years later his 11 catches behind the stumps against the same opposition in Johannesburg equalled the Test record for the most dismissals in a match.

He topped the ICC Player Rankings in Tests, where he blended exquisite stroke-play with resolute defence at times. He also went on to top the rankings in the ODI format, where his athleticism, explosiveness and ingenuity earned him the affectionate nickname of ‘Mr 360’ among global fans.

In 2015 he set blistering new records for the fastest 50, 100 and 150 in ODIs during unforgettable innings of 149 and 162 not out against the West Indies, the latter of which came in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2015 at Sydney.

He retired from all formats in 2018 averaging over 50 in both Tests and ODIs, and thanks to a specialist skillset in T20Is, he flourished in franchise leagues around the world.

Where does the former Proteas captain rank among SA’s greatest ever cricketers?

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