Bangalore’s AB de Villiers became only the second overseas player to cross 5,000 runs in the Indian T20 League on Tuesday, when the batsman hit a six off Axar Patel in the match against Delhi.
Playing in his 175th game, AB de Villiers is also the most capped overseas player in the Indian T20 League. He also maintains a strike rate of 152.37 in the tournament and is only behind David Warner to remain one of the most prolific foreign batsmen in the T20 extravaganza.
However, de Villiers outclasses Warner on the basis of balls faced to achieve this landmark.
| Quickest to 5000 IPL runs in terms of balls faced | ||
| Player | Innings | Balls faced |
| AB de Villiers | 161 innings | 3288 balls |
| David Warner | 135 innings | 3554 balls |
| Suresh Raina | 173 innings | 3620 balls |
| Rohit Sharma | 188 innings | 3817 balls |
| Virat Kohli | 157 innings | 3827 balls |
| Shikhar Dhawan | 168 innings | 3956 balls |
The former South Africa international has also been a delightful fielder. The 37-year-old took a whopping 19 catches in 16 games in the 2016 edition, the most by any non-wicket-keeping fielder in a single season. He beat the initial record set by compatriot David Miller in that very campaign (14 catches).
Speaking of his impact with the bat, AB de Villiers is simply a gigantic force to reckon with as he has registered two 200-plus partnerships in the Indian T20 League so far.
De Villiers’ 229-run stand with Virat Kohli against Gujarat (2016) is the highest partnership across all 14 editions of the tournament, eclipsing the record he set with Kohli (215 runs) against Mumbai in the 2015 edition.
While Chris Gayle leads the pack with 354 sixes in the Indian T20 League, AB de Villiers sits second on that list with 240 sixes.
AB de Villiers started his Indian T20 League with Team Delhi, before sealing a move to Bangalore after three seasons in the capital city. His Delhi stint was largely forgettable as barring the 2009 season, where he tallied 465 runs in 15 matches, ABD had underwhelming campaigns of 95 and 111 runs in 2008 and 2010 respectively.
Featured photo: AFP / Manjunath Kiran
