He was appointed captain of his state side - the Nashua Dolphins - at the tender age of 21 and soon impressed everyone with his demeanour. Earmarked as a special talent right from his young age, he led the South African side at the 2002 Under-19 World Cup and made his Test debut against India in 2004-05.
Questions were asked about his mental framework when his talent didn't translate into runs. His technique was thought to be suspect and a couple of failures only reinforced that belief. He was dropped from the side after the initial setbacks and went back to his domestic side and amassed runs to make a comeback. He made a career-saving 149 against New Zealand in Cape Town which ensured a draw.
Now, that knock gave him the self-belief that he could succeed at the international level and runs flowed from his blade. An unbelievable tour of India, where he was dismissed only once in three innings even as the Indians threw everything at him, proved to the world that Amla was the next big thing in world cricket. His run-tally of 490 runs in three innings at an average of 490 in a two Test match series was just simply out-of-the-world stuff.
Despite his magnificent record in Tests, he was always thought to be unsuitable to to the shorter formats of the game, but he proved that wrong by making two hundreds when the Proteas toured the West Indies in 2010 for a five-match ODI series. That performance ensured a permanent place in the South African ODI squad and he was given a chance in T20Is as well.
After Smith resigned from the ODI captaincy when the 2011 World Cup ended, Amla was expected to succeed him, but he chose not to assume the captaincy mantle. He was named the vice-captain of the ODI side.
In 2012, he slammed a triple hundred by scoring 311 against England at The Oval and in the process became the first South African to score a triple century. Amla had a slight dip in form during the end of 2013, where he did not score runs on a consistent basis, but he came back with a bang as he scored a fluent hundred against the touring Australians in the second Test in Port Elizabeth. He also played a major role in getting South Africa to the semi-final of the 2014 T20 WC, where he scored 185 runs in five innings.
Amla continued to pile on the runs as in the ODI series in Sri Lanka, he scored back-to-back hundreds, before notching up one more in Zimbabwe. In fact, he finished 2014 as South Africa's highest run-getter in both Tests and ODIs. He also smashed a double hundred against West Indies in December 2014.
With him becoming the fastest to score 5,000 ODI runs, in just 101 innings, breaking Virat Kohli's (114 innings) record, there is no doubt that Amla will play a big role in South Africa's 2015 World Cup campaign.
Amla's immense concentration skills and his never ending thirst for runs has ensured that he is the natural successor to the big scoring Jacques Kallis in the South African line-up. A calm and a down to earth person, Amla shies away from the limelight and is known to be an intensely private person.
Interesting facts about Amla: His elder brother, Ahmed, is also a professional cricketer, having made his debut two years earlier, and currently captains the Dolphins.
Upon his Test debut, he successfully requested that alcohol-promoting logos not be shown on his merchandise and playing gear.
Dean Jones called him a terrorist on air inadvertently, assuming that the broadcasters had cut to an Ad break when Amla took a catch, but they hadn't and it cost him his job. Later he apologised to Amla.
Amla is a devout Muslim and has the best beard in the game at the present moment.
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