On February 25, South Africa’s one of the furious batsmen and One Day International (ODI) skipper AB deVilliers has created yet another record in ODIs and have surpassed former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly. During the third ODI in Wellington against New Zealand, AB played a knock of 80 runs off 85 balls and became the fastest cricketer to complete 9000 runs in one-day games.
AB left Ganguly behind in terms of innings to reach this milestone. It took 205 innings to de Villiers to reach this landmark while Ganguly took 228 ODI innings to achieve the feat.
After AB and Sourav Ganguly, the players who are on the list of 9000 runs achievers are Sachin Tendulkar (235 innings), Brian Lara (239 innings), Ricky Pointing (242 innings), Jacques Kallis (242 innings) and MS Dhoni (244 innings).
AB De Villiers is now the 18th overall and 2nd Proteas batsman after Jacques Kallis to reach the 9,000-run mark. He has the highest average of 53.96 and also has the best strike rate of around 100 in the 50-overs format. The 33-year-old made a strong comeback to international cricket from injury when he scored 63 off 44 balls in the third T20I versus Sri Lanka at Newlands in January.
Currently, AB is at the second position in the latest ranking list. For de Villiers, it’s the first time that he has achieved this position in his career. He left Virat Kohli behind after amassing 367 runs in the five-match home series against Pakistan which his side won 4-1.
