Cricket South Africa AB de Villiers retirement saga: How it all panned out over 6 years

While AB de Villiers continues to mesmerise cricket fans with his superlative performances in T20 leagues globally, there seems to be no possibility of the former South Africa captain donning the national jersey once again. The champion cricketer had decided to bring curtains down on his cricketing career at the highest level in May 2018. The AB de Villiers retirement news had sent shockwaves among the masses. Here we take a look at how the AB de Villiers retirement saga panned out over the duration of six years. 

The 2015 ICC World Cup aftermath 

The dynamic batter captained the South Africa team in 2015's edition of the 50-over World Cup. While the Proteas did come up with lion-hearted performances in the marque event, they were ultimately knocked out after they suffered a four-wicket loss to New Zealand via the D/L method in the all-important semi-final. While speaking to Harsha Bhogle on the ‘Cricbuzz in Conversation’ program, De Villiers had mentioned that losing the semi-final had a big impact on him. 

In the same show, he revealed that the next 12 months after the loss were very challenging for him. He also admitted to being alone at lonely at that juncture of his career. Moreover, he also was not too pleased with the unofficial quota system in the South Africa Cricket team and he had stated details regarding the same in his book AB: The Autobiography. The 37-year-old had written in his book about an incident from the 2015 World Cup, where he was asked to play Vernon Philander in place of the in-form Kyle Abbott because of the unofficial colour quota.

AB de Villiers offered to make a comeback for ICC 2019 World Cup 

The entertaining batsman was criticised by many after South Africa's underwhelming run in the showpiece for refusing an offer of making a comeback in the side for the multi-nation event. However, de Villiers had taken to his social media accounts to justify his stance on the matter. He had explained how he had casually informed skipper Faf du Plessis two days before the squad was announced that he was available for the team, but only if required. 

Mr. 360 also mentioned that during the weeks and months that followed after his retirement, there was no formal contact between Cricket South Africa, Proteas and himself and that neither he approached them nor did they approach him. The ex-captain then made his decision and the team decided to move on as well as they were enjoying success under the 'expert guidance' of coach Ottis Gibson and Faf du Plessis' captaincy. He also justified the reasons for his retirement in the same post. 

T20 World Cup 2021: Cricket South Africa AB de Villiers talks failed to materialise 

The dynamic batsman superlative performances post his retirement have often prompted calls of his comeback in the South Africa side. CSA director Graeme Smith had also spoken about the same on the Caribbean Cricket Podcast earlier this month where he had stated that he was hopeful of "free agents" AB de Villiers, Imran Tahir, and Chris Morris returning in South Africa colours next month for their West Indies series. However, the recent discussions between the cricket board and AB de Villiers seem to suggest otherwise and he is unlikely to return for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2021. 

AB de Villiers IPL 2021 journey

The right-hander has been an integral part of the RCB side in the cash-rich league over the years. The player chipped in with phenomenal performances for his franchise in the latest season as well. The player wooed fans with his magnificent strokeplay as he contributed with a number of match-winning performances for the Virat Kohli-led side. As far as the AB de Villiers IPL 2021 stats are concerned, the veteran amassed 207 runs from 7 matches at a fabulous strike rate of 164.28.

 

AB de Villiers stats in international cricket 

The AB de Villiers stats in international cricket make up for a staggering read. The batsman has featured in 114 Test matches for South Africa in his career. He has accumulated 8765 runs in the longer format and has 22 centuries to his name. When it comes to white-ball cricket, de Villiers has scored 9577 runs in 228 ODIs with 25 centuries and 1672 runs in 78 T20Is.

Image source: ICC Twitter