What Makes 2025 the Most Magical Year of AB de Villiers’ Career

Mr. 360° or AB de Villiers is being regarded as the happiest person in the world these days, as the year 2025 has been great for him. There were times when he did his best to help his team win the title, but he ended up suffering losses and heartbreak. However, this year proved to be a bit kinder to him.

From losing in the 2015 World Cup semi-final match against New Zealand to the IPL 2016 final against Sunrisers Hyderabad, his career has been filled with occasions where his team was close to winning a title but missed out on the same. Still, AB de Villiers didn’t lose hope, as he rooted for his international and IPL teams, hoping that they would win the title someday.

CAPTAIN AB DE VILLIERS WON THE WCL.

– RCB in the IPL. ✅
– SA in the WTC Final. ✅
– SA in the WCL. ✅

AB IS THE HAPPIEST MAN IN 2025. pic.twitter.com/a2LUeO7AxN

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) August 3, 2025

And that day finally came in 2025, when AB de Villiers announced that he would be making his comeback to cricket. After the announcement, he had already confirmed that he wouldn’t be playing in the IPL, but would be a part of the other veteran leagues. This left the fans elevated, as they would finally see the Alien back in action.

AB de Villiers always wanted his teams to win the final match and lift the trophy, and this happened not once, not twice, but thrice over the past two months. Whether it was RCB winning the IPL or South Africa winning the World Test Championship, de Villiers couldn’t hold his emotions back. Let’s take a look at how 2025 has been a magical year for AB de Villiers.

RCB Wins IPL

AB de Villiers has received loads of love from the fans in the Indian Premier League. Playing in the tournament since its inaugural season, he has been a part of two teams, Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Unfortunately, throughout his IPL career, he didn’t receive the opportunity to lift the IPL trophy for his team.

The closest he ever came to the IPL trophy was when he played for RCB in the 2016 season, but the team fell short by a few runs in the final match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. From 2011 to 2021, de Villiers had played more than ten seasons for the RCB team, but failing to win the title hurt him a lot more than anyone could have thought. Eventually, he announced his retirement from all formats of the game after IPL 2021.

Still, he didn’t stop supporting Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League, keeping the hopes high for the team. He waited for the time when RCB would play in the finals once again, and this finally took place in the Indian Premier League 2025 edition.

During the league stages of the Indian Premier League, RCB was just one win away from reaching the playoffs, as their golden run was going on in the season. Breaking all the records, the team looked like strong favourites to win the IPL when Virat Kohli announced his retirement from the Test format. AB de Villiers came live on 17 May to talk with the fans.

He acknowledged Virat Kohli for having a great Test career, and for the IPL, he said:

Mark my words, if RCB makes it to the final, I will be there at the stadium with the boys. Nothing will give me more pleasure than to lift that trophy with Virat Kohli. I’ve tried that for many many years.

This showcased that even after his retirement, de Villiers is still a part of the RCB family.

And the moment of truth came, when Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings, two teams that had never won an IPL title, faced each other in the finals. AB de Villiers was present in the commentary panel, where he talked about how brilliant the team’s performances have been during the current season.

When Josh Hazlewood was bowling the last over, de Villiers stood just beyond the boundary line, with Virat Kohli fielding ahead of him. After Hazlewood bowled two great deliveries, the title was in the hands of RCB, and Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers were spotted emotionally.

During the trophy celebration, Virat Kohli also called AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle on the podium to share the trophy. He remarked that both de Villiers and Gayle have given their prime time to the team, and still, they missed out on lifting the trophy. But with the team winning in 2025, they had an equal share to lift the title together.

Breaks ICC Trophy Jinx

At the international stage, AB de Villiers used to play for South Africa till he announced his retirement in 2018. Having played for the team in 114 Tests, 228 ODIs, and 78 T20I matches, he still failed to win an ICC title while playing for the team. Since then, his constant support has been with the Proteas, as he has rooted for them throughout.

The prayers finally came to work, as the South African team started to dominate in 2023. They managed to reach the semi-finals of the 2023 World Cup, where they lost against Australia. Further, the team also played in the T20 World Cup 2024 finals, where they lost against India. Even in the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy 2025, the team suffered a defeat against New Zealand.

But it didn’t take long for South Africa to break its ICC jinx, as the team went on against Australia in the World Test Championship final. With some consecutive wins in the Test matches under Temba Bavuma, the team made it to the finals against the defending champions, where both teams faced each other at Lord’s.

Watching his national team play in the final match in the best format of the game, AB de Villiers could not stop himself from supporting them. He visited the stadium and spectated the match, watching the Proteas dominate over the Kangaroos. The first half of the game didn’t go well for them, as Australia scored 212 and South Africa was bowled out for 138.

But there was no stopping the Proteas when they stepped down to chase the target of 282 runs. Aiden Markram took the centre stage at this moment, and he ended up scoring 136 runs during the chase, which helped South Africa to win the World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle by 5 wickets. This win was crucial for them, as they were finally able to remove the chokers tag, defeating the top Test team in the finals.

AB de Villiers could not hold his emotions as he watched his team finally lift an ICC trophy for the very first time in the 21st century. Another exciting moment, which was captured by de Villiers, took place when Marnus Labuschagne asked him for an autograph and told him that his kids love watching him play.

Winning WCL as a Captain

The World Championship of Legends received a lot of attention from the fans in its first season, which was played last year. This time, when the teams were announced, the South African Champions had the name of AB de Villiers as their captain, and fans were very excited, as they would finally be able to watch him play in the Green jersey.

Being the captain of the team, it was now time for de Villiers to prove his ability as a captain and make this year even more magical for himself. In his comeback game against the West Indies Champions, he got dismissed cheaply at the score of 3. But he told everyone that the Alien is still there, with the help of a half-century, he smashed in the game against the India Champions.

The dominance of AB de Villiers started from the match against the India Champions, and it continued till the team won the final match under his captaincy. Towards the last four matches of the tournament, he scored three centuries against England, Australia, and Pakistan.

He went on to finish the World Championship of Legends as the leading run scorer of the tournament with 429 runs in 6 innings at an average of 143, with 3 centuries and just one half-century. This shows the temperament of the Alien, that despite his retirement coming four years ago, he is still able to smash the bowlers across every corner of the ground.

The final match of the tournament was being played between the Pakistan Champions and the South Africa Champions, two of the most dominant teams of the tournament. Batting first, the Pakistan Champions were able to post an impressive total of 195 runs for the loss of 5 wickets. Amidst this, Sharjeel Khan played an important role for the team, scoring 76 runs off 44 balls.

To win the match, the South Africa Champions team needed to chase the score within 20 overs. And with the help of AB de Villiers, they were able to do it with ease, despite losing the wicket of Hashim Amla in the power play. AB de Villiers and JP Duminy played a match-winning partnership, which helped the Proteas to win by 9 wickets and 19 balls remaining.

Even in the final match, de Villiers scored 120 runs off 60 balls with 12 fours and 7 sixes, which helped him to win the Player of the Match award. Along with that, he also played a match-winning knock for the team and got the opportunity to lift the title being the captain for the very first time.