AB de Villiers is a former South African cricketer who captained the national team between 2012 and 2017.^[1] A right-handed batsman, he scored 47 centuries (100 or more runs in a single innings)—22 in Tests and 25 in ODIs—over his playing career. He reached the top of the ICC Test batting rankings in March 2012.^[2]

De Villiers made his Test debut in December 2004 against England, scoring 28 and 15.^[3] He made his first Test century the following month, scoring 109 in the drawn fifth Test at Centurion.^[4] His first double-century came in April 2008 against India when he scored 217 not out in a man-of-the-match performance in Ahmedabad.^[5] As of September 2019^[update], he has scored 22 Test centuries and holds the record for the second-highest individual score by a South African batsman, with 278 not out against Pakistan.^{[lower-alpha 1][7][8]} As of September 2017^[update], de Villiers has the fourth-highest number of centuries in Tests for South Africa.^[9]

De Villiers' made his ODI debut in February 2005 against England; he scored 20 in the tied match.^[10] His first century in the format came two years later in a man-of-the-match performance when he scored 146 against the West Indies at Grenada during the 2007 Cricket World Cup.^[11] He holds the record for the fastest half-century (off 16 balls) and century (off 31 balls) in ODIs.^[12][13] Both were achieved during the course of his 149 (off 44 balls) against West Indies in January 2015.^[1][14] He hit 16 sixes in the match and leveled the then record of most sixes by a batsman (held by India's Rohit Sharma) in an innings.^[15] As of September 2019^[update], he has the joint seventh-highest number (25) of centuries in ODIs.^{[lower-alpha 2]}

Between 2006 and 2017, de Villiers played 78 Twenty20 International matches.^[16] His highest score of 79 not out was made in the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 match against Scotland which South Africa won by 130-runs.^[17][18] As of September 2019^[update], de Villiers ranks tenth (with 47 centuries) in the all-time list for most centuries in international cricket.^[19]