Daily Times

Indeed it was a big treat for cricket fans that watched A B de Villiers playing a record-breaking innings by hitting the fastest fifty and then hundred in One Day Internationals. The South African skipper belted a century off 31 balls, five deliveries quicker than previous record-holder Corey Anderson of New Zealand. The manoeuvring, big hitting and sweeping of the ball all around the ground were all done masterfully. It was his career best innings, enough to fill the eyes of opponents with envy. His opponents, the West Indies, could do little except to act as spectators watching almost every ball heading to the boundary for fours and sixes. The Caribbean team could not be wholly blamed for the debacle though it did everything to stop the barrage of runs with its average bowling attack, once famous for having dreaded pacers. It took de Villiers just 44 balls to pile up a mighty score of 149 runs to his credit, only one run away from breaking another world record of the fastest 150. He clobbered 16 sixes, the most by a South African player and equal to Indian player Rohit Sharma. This ferocious knock by A B de Villiers is a harbinger of change in playing trends. The commercialisation of the game and introduction of the Twenty-20 format has totally transformed this gentleman’s game. The traditional defensive batting style has become a thing of the past. Now the game has become much faster and full of excitement. Along with nerves of steel, a team has to get either quick wickets or pile up a skyscraper of runs to win each game. The tumbling of records at quick intervals is the result of this transformation.

That takes nothing away from the exhibition of such an exquisite piece of batting by de Villiers. January 18, 2015 was indisputably his day. His outstanding performance deserves to have bestowed upon him the title of a genius of cricket. After such a show, other international teams might feel some trepidation while facing South Africa in the World Cup. Surely, South Africa will pose a great danger to other strong teams like Australia and India. Despite having such great talent, the Proteas need a little luck too to win the big title as the tag of chokers still haunts them due to their repeated defeats in the semi-finals of three cricket World Cups. It is also an eye-opener for Pakistan, which should realize that the trends of the game have changed. If they want to win the tournament, they will have to show a fighting spirit and well planned strategy for each game. *