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New Delhi: Before the likes of Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav came in and revolutionised the game with their shot-making all over the park in the limited overs format, there was AB de Villiers. The South African earned himself the moniker Mr. 360 to highlight his range of shots, ability to hit the ball anywhere, against any bowler and change complexion of the game.
The now 40-year-old broke the world record for the fastest ODI century in 2015, reaching the milestone in 31 balls. That race to the ton included the fastest ODI fifty as well as 16 sixes, also a world record at the time.
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His explosive hitting has been recognised and bewildered fans on this side of the continent as well. He played for Delhi Capitals in the first three years of the IPL but it was with Royal Challengers Bengaluru that he formed a bond. He became one of the league’s iconic names and a legend for the franchise, scoring almost 4,500 runs across 11 years.
After the 2021 IPL, de Villiers announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. Now, he’s part of the SA20 – South Africa’s T20 league – as the Ambassador.
With ‘ABD’ now in the past for the IPL, the big draw in swashbuckling shot-making is ‘SKY’. The Mumbai Indians batter awes fans and experts alike with his range. But what about South Africa’s own ‘next ABD‘?
“I think one player that stands out, and I don’t often, or I haven’t spoken about him in the past, regularly, is Donovan Ferreira (part of Joburg’s Super Kings). The only sad thing is he bats too low in the order to really showcase his true potential. I’ve spoken about Jordan Hermann. Ryan Rickelton, we’ve seen now put up his hand for all formats, scoring a 250 in a Test match,” said AB de Villiers during an interaction ahead of SA20 Season 3.
“Donovan Ferreira is not the youngest anymore. But I just haven’t seen enough of him, and I wish they could would push him in at number three or four, just from time to time for us to see what he’s really capable of. So that will be my pick. Hopefully this will be season of (him) getting more game time and more time up the order.
“I think he bats at number six, and he showcased a little bit of what he’s capable of last season once or twice, but just not enough balls. I really hope he could come in from Over 6 onwards, you know, and sometimes Over 8. More often than not, he comes in only at the 16th or 17th. So that’s one guy I would keep an eye out for. I think he’s an out-and-out match winner. Just a fantastic player,” added De Villiers.
Ferreira has played six T20Is for South Africa and scored 79 runs with a best of 48 runs at a strike rate of 158.00. Still very early days in his career where he’s played 90 T20s across England’s The Hundred, Blast, two games for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, in the Caribbean Premier League and two SA20 seasons.
AB de Villiers put the allrounder in esteemed company by saying the 26-year-old reminds him of the legendary MS Dhoni.
“He reminds me bit of MS Dhoni in his prime. I’m not comparing them. I’m saying he reminds me of him where MS was really brutal against the bowlers. He really bludgeoned the ball all parts of the ground. He made guys like Dale Steyn, Mitchell Starc look like they are scared to bowl to him, and that’s the feeling I get with Donovan Ferreira. he hits the ball so hard. He’s got such a good eye, and hopefully he’ll face a few more more deliveries in this coming season,” said De Villiers.
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