AB De Villiers is a name that not many fans need any introduction to. The 39 year old South African former captain has entertained everyone with his skills with the bat. ABD as he is fondly called has gained a massive fan following in International cricket or franchise cricket. AB De Villiers finally called time on his active playing career at the end of IPL 2021 with his beloved Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The story as it happened –
South African and world cricket was rocked in early 2018, when it came to light that South African star batter AB De Villiers called time on his international career. Then aged 34, AB De Villiers was in the peak of his powers with the bat. Many fans were waiting for him to enthrall the crowds for a few more years. The South African fans had expected ABD to be part of the 2019 World Cup which was a year and half away.
ABD breaks his silence on his sudden retirement –
Jio Cinema’s show Home of Heroes saw AB De Villiers sit down with Robin Uthappa the former Indian cricketer for an interview. The topic veered towards the 2018 retirement of ABD and how the world was shocked by the decision. After nearly 5 years ABD broke his silence.
While speaking to Robin Uthappa, the former South African skipper said “the environment in the South Africa team was a problem for me at that time. I didn’t have the team set up which I wanted to be part of. That sort of changed me during the backend of my career. I lost a lot of friends in Boucher, Smith and Kallis after they retired. All of a sudden looking around, none of them were there”
ABD speaks on the influx of youngsters –
Mark Boucher the current coach of Mumbai Indians retired in 2012 due to an eye injury during the England tour. Graeme Smith retired in 2014 aged 33 which was yet another shock, while Kallis too had retired in early 2014 post the India series. This mean there was a influx of youngsters that AB De Villiers spoke about
ABD continued “some of the other guys were younger than me and played less games. All of a sudden it was me to drive things, which I really enjoyed, but you need a group like 4-5 people that were tight. They understand the same things that you do”