AB De Villiers retirement
Former Proteas captain AB de Villiers has called time on his illustrious international career at the age of 34.
The destructive right-hander has tormented bowlers in all formats, scoring 47 centuries for his country, but says the time has come to quit. The right-handed batsman has a test average of 50.66 and an ODI average of 53.5 .
On one hand he holds the record for the fastest 50, 100 and 150 but he also has played 297 balls for 47 runs to draw a test match against India. He got the title of ‘Mr 360’ owing to his ability to blast off shots in every direction. He was the man for all situations across all formats. Someone rightly posted on Instagram
“When plan A fails then plan B and when plan B fails then plan AB”
He stated in a video posted on his Twitter account: “It is time for others to take over, I’ve had my turn and to be honest, I’m tired. This is a tough decision, I’ve thought long and hard about it and I’d like to retire while still playing decent cricket.
For me in green and gold it must be everything or nothing. I will always be a grateful for my team-mates, coaches and the staff of Cricket South Africa for their support through all these years.”
The world was shocked over the sudden retirement of the games living legend. Sachin Tandulkar tweeted “Like your on-field game, may you have 360-degree success off the field as well. You will definitely be missed, @ABdeVilliers17. My best wishes to you!”.
RCB teammate Virat Kohli tweeted: “Wish you all the best in everything that you do my brother. You’ve changed the way batting was seen in the time you’ve played international cricket. My best wishes to you and your family for this amazing journey ahead @ABdeVilliers17”
Fans across the globe were in a state of denial over his retirement. He was still very much in the peak of his career, having recently performed well for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL. The legend proves his worth even now when he recently defied gravity with a stunning ‘Spiderman’ catch for his team RCB against the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Cricket grounds will be a lot quitter with A.B. gone.
