- Role
- Batter · 'Mr 360'
- Country
- South Africa
- Batting
- Right-hand bat
- Bowling
- Right-arm medium
- Born
- Pretoria, South Africa — 17 February 1984
- Net worth
- $20m–$25m (editorial estimate)
The night the record book gave up
Johannesburg, 18 January 2015. AB de Villiers walks in against the West Indies and reaches fifty in 16 balls — an ODI record. He keeps going: 100 off 31 balls, obliterating the fastest-century record by five deliveries. Bowlers aimed at blockholes and watched the ball disappear over point; they aimed wide and watched it vanish over fine leg. Sixteen sixes in all. Weeks later, at the World Cup, he added the fastest 150 in ODI history — 64 balls — against the same opponents.
Three of ODI cricket’s four biggest speed records, one batter. A decade later, all three still stand.
Career records at a glance
| Record | Detail |
|---|---|
| Fastest ODI fifty | 16 balls — world record |
| Fastest ODI century | 31 balls — world record |
| Fastest ODI 150 | 64 balls — world record |
| Test average | 50+ across 114 Tests; highest score 278* |
| ODI average / strike rate | 50+ average at a strike rate above 100 — a combination with no historical parallel |
| Consecutive Tests from debut | 98 — an ironman streak |
Mr 360
The nickname was earned literally. De Villiers scored to every point of the compass: laps and scoops over the wicketkeeper, reverse hits over point off 145 km/h bowling, and — when bowlers finally bowled a normal ball — some of the cleanest orthodox driving of his generation. A schoolboy sporting polymath (junior national honours across multiple sports), he brought a freakish athletic toolkit to batting and rewired what fielding captains believed was defendable.
The other AB: the wall
The paradox that elevates him above other hitters: he may have been his era’s best defensive batter too. In Delhi in 2015, with South Africa saving a Test, de Villiers batted 220 balls for 43 runs — one of the great rearguards. His Test career — average above 50, a 278 not out, and 98 consecutive Tests from debut — would be Hall-of-Fame worthy if the white-ball fireworks had never happened.
The unfulfilled chapter
The one gap is the one South African cricket shares: no World Cup. The 2015 semi-final loss to New Zealand at Eden Park — de Villiers as captain, the game slipping away in the rain — remains one of the sport’s cruelest nights. He retired internationally in 2018, earlier than the game wanted, and spent his remaining franchise years as the IPL’s most loved overseas star with Royal Challengers Bangalore alongside Virat Kohli.
Net worth and legacy
IPL contracts, global endorsements and media work place editorial estimates of de Villiers’ net worth at $20–25 million. His true legacy is stylistic: every ramp, scoop and reverse hit in modern T20 cricket traces its lineage to him. See where the 31-ball hundred ranks among the fastest centuries in cricket history.
Frequently asked questions
Who has scored the fastest century in ODI cricket?
AB de Villiers — 100 off 31 balls against the West Indies at Johannesburg on 18 January 2015. In the same innings he broke the record for the fastest ODI fifty (16 balls). Weeks later, at the 2015 World Cup, he added the fastest 150 (64 balls), also against the West Indies.
Why is AB de Villiers called Mr 360?
Because he scored all around the wicket — reverse-sweeping fast bowlers, scooping yorkers over the keeper, and hitting conventional drives with equal ease. Fielding captains ran out of places to put fielders, so broadcasters started calling him a 360-degree batter.
Was AB de Villiers good in Test cricket too?
Outstanding. He averaged over 50 across 114 Tests with a highest score of 278 not out, and once batted 220 balls for 43 runs to save a Test in Delhi — proof the fastest scorer alive was also one of the hardest to dismiss.
Net worth figures are editorial estimates compiled from public reporting. Players and boards rarely disclose contract values. Profile last updated 16 July 2026.