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Friday, May 27, 2011
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Versatility beyond the cricket field

A. Joseph Antony

HYDERABAD: The guitar's no extension of his bat, nor the piano a substitute for his wicket-keeping gloves. Golf gets close though, his handicap a high five!

Adept at all these, Abraham Benjamin de Villiers rocks, even if he dismisses his music as just another hobby. Like fishing, which he dabbles in during the off-season instead of county cricket.

“Ampie du Preez is the pro,” is how he described his music mate in a chat with The Hindu. The duo collaborated first on ‘Show them who you are,' a smash single that turned anthem for the Proteas in their rise to victory over Australia at the end of the last decade.

In August last year, they launched ‘Maak Jou Drome Waar,' (translates from Afrikaans to ‘make your dreams come true') their first full-fledged music album, a 14-track offering, containing nine songs in their native Afrikaans and five in English. Released by Sony-BMG, the eponymous song's video was posted on Youtube, soon spawning Facebook and Orkut communities.

“I'm not always upbeat,” he said a day after Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) lost to Deccan Chargers in Hyderabad.

“That's when music raises hope,” the swashbuckler said, referring to his song, ‘ Lift,' the optimism in its lines quite infectious: “You've got to lift yourself up above all that hurt, don't give in;

Wipe your eyes and remember, you're better than this.

Let them know that they took their best shot and they missed!

Come on and lift.”

The album explores early love (he's not keen to discuss his girlfriends, though!), young crushes and the inspirational, exemplified by Madibaland, a tribute to Nelson Mandela. Without classical training or the conventional chords, he plays music purely by ear, much of his melodies conjured up in his Macbook. Composed around camp fires on his parents' farm, the album's production period was great fun, recorded by his partner du Preez: AB is as fearless with his music as he is on the cricket pitch!

De Villiers' personal website states The Bible is his favourite book, which gives him direction, as much as for his role model Jonty Rhodes.

As Audi's brand ambassador and cricket's record holder for the longest stint without a duck, AB's formula for life is forthright: Success is 99% self-belief.

You have to be confident in your abilities. And hard work comes naturally if you have a passion for something.

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