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His records are a true measure of the skill and brilliance he brought to the crease, says Rajneesh Gupta.
One of the most exciting batsmen to come out of South Africa, A B de Villiers announced his shock retirement from international cricket on Wednesday, May 23.
De Villiers bowed out of international cricket as one of the greatest players to have represented South Africa, having played 114 Tests, 228 One-Day Internationals and 78 T20 Internationals.
His records and statistics are a true measure of the skill and brilliance he brought to the crease.
He holds a phenomenal number of milestones to his name: The World Record for the fastest ODI 50 (16 balls), 100 (31 balls) and 150 (64 balls), the second highest individual Test score for South Africa (278 not out), and the highest points (935) by a South African on the ICC Test rankings.
He retires with an incredible Test average of 50.66 and as the fourth-highest run-scorer for South Africa with 8,765 runs (22 centuries).
His exploits in the limited-overs formats have been extraordinary, and he finishes as the No 2 ranked player in the world and as the second highest run-scorer behind Jacques Kallis with 9,577 runs at an average of 53.50.
0Number of wicket-keepers to have scored a hundred and effected 10 dismissals in the same Test before AB did so against Pakistan at Johannesburg in 2003.
1 Among all batsmen who have aggregated 8,000 runs in Tests and ODIs, AB is the only batsman to have done so at an average of more than 50.
3 Number of fastest innings milestones held by AB in ODIs -- the fastest 50, the fastest 100 and the fastest 150.
| Balls | Versus | Venue | Date | |
| Fastest ODI 50 | 16 | West Indies | Johannesburg | January 18, 2015 |
| Fastest ODI 100 | 31 | West Indies | Johannesburg | January 18, 2015 |
| Fastest ODI 150 | 64 | West Indies | Sydney | February 27, 2015 |
16 Number of sixes AB hit against the West Indies at Canberra in 2015 -- joint-most by any batsman in an ODI. AB equalled Rohit Sharma's world record (later Chris Gayle also shared the record of most sixes in an ODI).
71.45AB's average in ODIs as a captain-'keeper -- the highest for any player performing the dual role.
Highest average in ODIs by a captain-wicket-keeper (10 or more matches):
| Average | Player | Matches | Runs | Strike Rate | 100s |
| 71.45 | A B de Villiers | 30 | 1,429 | 107.12 | 4 |
| 53.92 | M S Dhoni | 199 | 6,633 | 86.29 | 6 |
| 47.45 | Kumar Sangakkara | 45 | 1,756 | 84.30 | 1 |
| 46.68 | Ashish Bagai | 24 | 887 | 68.65 | 0 |
| 44.08 | Brendon McCullum | 13 | 529 | 102.12 | 1 |
| 38.37 | Brendan Taylor | 17 | 614 | 86.23 | 2 |
| 34.62 | Adam Gilchrist | 17 | 554 | 91.11 | 1 |
101.09 AB's strike-rate in the ODIs -- the highest among all batsmen who have batted in 20 innings or more and managed an average of 50 or more. India captain Virat Kohli is second with a strike-rate of 92.14.
Highest ODI career strike-rate among batsmen with 50-plus average (Minimum: 20 innings):
| Strike Rate | Player | Innings | Runs | Average | 100s |
| 101.09 | A B de Villiers | 218 | 9,577 | 53.50 | 25 |
| 92.14 | Virat Kohli | 200 | 9,588 | 58.10 | 35 |
| 88.90 | Hashim Amla | 161 | 7,535 | 50.23 | 26 |
| 88.40 | M S Dhoni | 272 | 9,967 | 51.37 | 10 |
| 87.70 | Ryan N ten Doeschate | 32 | 1,541 | 67.00 | 5 |
| 86.89 | Joe Root | 101 | 4,451 | 51.16 | 11 |
| 84.26 | Babar Azam | 40 | 1,789 | 51.11 | 7 |
121 Runs scored by AB in the final 10 overs (41 to 50) against the West Indies at Johannesburg in 2015 -- the most by any batsman in this phase in an ODI.
AB and Rohit Sharma are the only two players to have scored more than 100 runs in an innings twice.
204 Number of sixes hit by AB in ODIs -- the most by a South African player. Jacques Kallis is second with 137 sixes.
338.63 AB's strike rate in the World Cup match against the West Indies at Canberra in 2015 -- the highest for all 1,662 ODI hundreds scored till date.
1,207 Runs scored by AB in the World Cup -- the most for South Africa. His four hundreds are also a record for South Africa.
20014Runs scored by AB de Villiers in all international cricket. Since his debut in December 2004, only one player has scored more runs in international cricket – Kumar Sangakkara (21437).