"It's very refreshing not to see them..." - AB de Villiers' 'karma' dig at Australia after their T20 World Cup 2024 exit

Former South African captain and one of the greatest modern-era batters, AB de Villiers, shared his thoughts on Australia's performance in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, expressing his relief at not seeing them in the knockout stages of the tournament.

De Villiers said that it was refreshing not to see the Australians in the knockout stages of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024, given their historical success in crunch matches. He also felt it was really good for South Africa not to face the 2021 T20 World Cup champions in the semifinals this year.

AB de Villiers shares his thoughts on Australia's exit from T20 World Cup 2024

The Proteas great also highlighted the irony of Afghanistan, a team previously ousted by the Australia cricket team in the 2023 ODI World Cup, being the one to eliminate them in the T20 World Cup 2024. He also said that Glenn Maxwell’s dismissal shifted momentum during their Super-8 match.

Ab de Villiers said on his YouTube channel: “Firstly, it was very refreshing not to see them in the knockouts. And I mean it, with a lot of respect, because we know the Aussies in knockout stages, they are brutal. They generally get the job done. So, it's nice not to have them there. And it was refreshing for South Africa not to have to play Australia in the semifinals. It's refreshing. But all due respect to Australia, they've been incredible over the years with World Cups.

I won't say they took it too easy. World Cups—it's a tricky one. You either do it or you don't. It comes down to small moments. And it's quite ironic that Afghanistan was the team to finally knock them out, beating Bangladesh and forcing Australia to fall out of the knockout stages. In the ODI World Cup, it was Australia that knocked Afghanistan out in that huge game when Glenn Maxwell scored a double hundred. He didn't have the same kind of luck this time around.”

De Villiers also shared his thoughts on Cricket Australia’s decision to appoint Mitchell Marsh over Pat Cummins as their T20I captain. He said that it was probably Cummins' call, and he was certainly not overlooked for the job by Cricket Australia.

AB de Villiers defends Mitchell Marsh's captaincy at the T20 World Cup 2024

He admitted that Cummins achieved a lot of success in a short span of time as a captain, but Marsh is not a bad captain, and it is always not about the results. The Proteas legend further stated: “Cummins has had a lot of success. He's also a Test captain and an ODI captain. Doing all three formats these days is not so easy anymore.

So, we all felt in the Jio Cinema studios that Cummins made that call himself. And you can't say it's a mistake. I mean, Mitchell Marsh is a fantastic player and a really good leader. You can't always look at the results.”

De Villiers further mentioned that the Australian team looked like a happy team throughout the T20 World Cup 2024, and they gave their best, but it was a tricky tournament. The legendary South African batter said that playing and getting results on the turning, slow, and low wickets are really not Australia’s game and that's why they struggled.