Looking back at AB de Villiers's ODI captaincy
AB de Villiers announced that he would be stepping down from ODI captaincy. He said, "It has been an honour to lead the team for the past 6 years, but it is now time for someone else to take the ODI side forward." Clearing any doubts about his Test future, he said he will be available to play all three formats of the game.
Adjectives that precede AB de Villiers
Abraham Benjamin de Villiers or simply ABD is one of the rare species of cricketers who evoke affection and admiration across cricketing world. In his true form, the man can destroy any bowling attack with ease leaving the best of the bowlers hapless. Described in superlatives he is known as - Mr. 360, superman of modern cricket, formidable, innovative and an excellent athlete.
Individual ODI batting records while being a captain
ABD captained SA in 103 ODIs and scored 4796 runs at an average of 63.94. As a captain (with 50+ matches), he has the highest batting average with Dhoni a distant second at 53.93. During his captaincy, he also broke the records for fastest 50 (off 16), 100 (off 31), and 150 (off 64), all of which he achieved in 2015 against West Indies.
ODI captaincy: Achievements or the lack of it
AB de Villiers took over ODI captaincy reins from Graeme Smith after the 2011 World Cup and ever since lead the Proteas during 2013 Champions Trophy, 2015 World Cup, and the latest 2017 Champions Trophy. Despite having one of the top squads, de Villiers and team could never clinch any major trophy often living up to their tag of being 'chokers'.
ABD's style of captaincy
AB de Villiers considers his style of captaincy to be competitive, and full of energy. With team spirit at the center of his working style, he likes to lead by example. His focus is primarily on winning as a team than focus on individual records.
Who next?
Standing down from captaincy can do some good for ABD, the player, by taking the pressure off him and giving a chance to focus all his energies on batting. Post-ABD, Faf du Plessis is thought to be his logical replacement. Faf who already captains the Proteas for Test and T20 formats, finds support in ABD, who is all praise for his teammate's captaincy skills.
