The Abraham Benjamin Effect

You might think this sounds like an artist. But then, you see the 'Effect' word there too. Might make you think 'magician'. What if I tell you he is both and more. Singer, golfer, tennis player, etcetera. Don't even get started on that list. But most importantly, Abraham Benjamin De Villiers, or more famously, AB De Villiers, is a professional cricketer, who plays primarily for the South African Cricket team.

The South African Cricket team, not coincidentally, is as respected and feared around the world, as the man himself. Currently, they sit on the summit of the ICC Test rankings and are 3rd placed in ODI rankings. They reached the semi-final of the ODI world cup 2015, before losing out honorably in the last over. They boast of one of the world's finest bowling units, possessing the world's best bowler - Dale Steyn. They have the run-printer Hashim Amla, the stoic Faf Du Plessis, and extremely talented players like Quinton De Kock and David Miller. Picture perfect, right? Errm, not completely.

That most-vaunted bowling unit became less so that day itself, with the best bowler in the world serving rank length balls, before finally being carted for that massive six, that ended it all, one that will forever trouble Steyn's sleep. A few weeks later, he was sent out of the park for much more by a rookie Indian batsman and had to sit out many matches to Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Ya, that bowler!

As always, they possess no real spin attack, despite Tahir's intermittent wickets between his >6 economy overs, no matter the format. The run-printer seemed to have its cartridge stuck for the most part of 2015. Du Plessis appeared too stoic for his or his team's good, playing in a shell whenever he came out to bat. Probably the only batsman worse on the India tour would be Stiaan Van Zyl, a shining example of SA's dwindling bench strength. Miller is all right, though, except he too decided to go on a lean patch. De Cock, according to reliable sources, possesses a magic potion, that lets him hit hundreds at will against India. Only against India.

Yeah. South Africa has won less than 50 percent matches against proper cricket-playing nations. And this is the reason why, from being the first and the only team till date to achieve numero uno status across all three formats simultaneously in 2012, they have slipped to being 3rd in ODIs and 5th in T20s.

Some two years back, the great Jacques Kallis retired after scoring a gallant century in his last match against India, leading the Proteas to an excellent match and series win against India. Graeme Smith, the able captain and batsman, retired 3 test matches later. And behold!

Not enough for you still? Consider these. The two years before these two, South Africa played 21 Test matches, out of which they won a staggering 13, and lost 2. Go figure that. Going into the details, these included series wins in Australia against Australia, crushing England in England, and drawing level with India in India.

I think this now presents a more wholesome picture of the steady and stealthy decline of the South Africa of old.

Another wonderful fact there is that before these two years, AB had 6331 runs from 153 innings, at an average of just 49.46.

How is that possible? The two sets of data seem oppositely correlated. It's like those construction companies in U.S. that made hay while the world was sunk in recession. Also, despite his team's unflattering performance in Tests in that duration, AB scored 1123 runs at an average of 48.83. And that includes 4 test matches in those dust bowls in India, where none of SA's totals went past 220 in 7 innings.

The extent of the AB effect can be gauged by the fact that when he goes on a paternity leave (mind you AB never gets injured), they lose to Bangladesh 2-1 in ODIs, dismissed for sub-200 two times in a row. So AB comes back, and they beat the hell out of the 2nd placed team in ICC ODI rankings, with him scoring 3 centuries in 5 matches, and SA piling up one more 400+ score, the fourth in 2015. AB has hit centuries in three of those four 400+ scores. Period.

So is there no hope left for South Africa on the rare rainy days when AB is not up to his mark? Thankfully not. There is a silver lining at the end of that tunnel. Silver 'linings', I rephrase.

These two, along with clever off-spinner Dane Piedt, and well-established Vernon Philander, have the potential to completely solve the Black-quota problem of South African cricket team for once. Sooner or later, 'Killer Miller' will come into his own, and will dismantle the oppositions ruthlessly and single-handedly. De Cock is as young as they come, and gradually he will mature into a top wicketkeeper-batsman for South Africa if he hasn't already. Amla is already back and packing punches. Faf and Dale are world-beaters. No need to worry about them.

And if ever they all fail, or they collectively are not enough, you know what to do. Just close your eyes, take a deep breath, and say, 'Have no fear, coz AB is here.' Repeat that chant one or two times more, and you will be fine, I promise.