Die-hard AB de Villiers fan and Bengal batsman Jayojit Basu picked up several little-known facets of the South African great and one intriguing fact (read point number two) from AB The Autobiography, published by Macmillan. Basu, 27, lists for t2 the “First XI” of AB’s book, along with a “not-so-cool” slip-up on the back cover!

1 During the world record 100 against West Indies, AB de Villiers didn’t want to bat. AB writes he had asked the Proteas coach to send David Miller in at three during the Johannesburg ODI against West Indies in 2015 when South Africa crossed 200 for no loss, batting first. But coach Russell Domingo stuck with AB and he went on to score the fastest 100 in ODI history, off 31 deliveries.

2 He is a religious person to the core and believes in God, having experienced God... twice!
According to his book, AB heard God’s voice twice. Once as a child and again as a grown-up after his international debut.

3 Jonty Rhodes is his hero.

4 Like us in Calcutta, boys in South Africa played “one-drop-one-hand” cricket, which actually ended up helping AB to perfect the dead defence with soft hands.

5 He has a humane side. The fact that AB is still in touch with three of his friends from playschool even after becoming a world-beater is amazing!

6 Every non-cricketing achievement that was attributed to AB in a post that hailed him as a prodigy is actually Internet spam and not the truth. AB clarifies in the book that a Sky Sports article, which thousands had shared online during the build-up to the 2015 World Cup, was actually false. The article had said that he had been selected for the South African national hockey team, shortlisted for the national football squad, was captain of the South Africa junior rugby team, had six national swimming records, was the fastest over 100m among junior sprinters of the country, was a member of the national junior Davis Cup tennis team, national U-19 badminton champion, has a handicap of scratch in golf and had received a national medal from Nelson Mandela for a science project. All of these, AB says, are false!

7 Faf du Plessis (South African captain for T20s) is his schoolmate and batchmate.

8 He picked Jacques Kallis as his all-time greatest Test cricketer (which I found surprising).

9 It was inspiring to read about his grit and determination. AB always wanted to be No. 1 and didn’t settle for anything less.

10 While playing for the Titans, east of Pretoria, best buds Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel and AB started staying together. Even after Albie got married, the four of them stayed together in the same flat for months.

11 He is amazed by India’s economic growth and development in the past 25 years.

There is, however, one silly run-out. The book’s back cover and the first page say he has scored 14,000 runs in 98 Tests for South Africa, which is way more than what he has actually scored. The statistics given towards the end of the book with a series-by-series break-up, give the correct figure: 8,074 runs in 106 Tests.

AB stands for ABsolutely awesome because.... Tell t2@abp.in