AB de Villiers Terms His Port Elizabeth Test Ton Against Australia as His Favourite

There is hardly any doubt about the fact that former South African great AB de Villiers is one of the finest batsmen of all time. He was arguably the greatest of his generation. After his shock retirement, De Villiers has finally opened up on the secrets which made him one of the finest batsmen of all time. He further rated his last Test ton against Australia as his most celebrated at Port Elizabeth.

De Villiers suddenly announced his retirement from international cricket in May at the age of 34. It was indeed a surprising call especially given the fact that the 2019 World Cup is just around the corner.

In an interview with cricket.com.au, De Villiers revealed the pressure and workload of being an icon of the game and the toll it had on his career which prompted him to announce his retirement.

Despite his retirement from international cricket, Mr 360 will continue to ply his trade in Twenty20 Leagues across the globe. He is one of the most important players for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) alongwith skipper Virat Kohli.

De Villiers has scored more than 20,000 runs in his international career, and his records are the testimony to his achievements in the gentleman’s game. He has been a batsman for all formats and has been very consistent all through his career.

AB de Villiers says he has tried to keep things simple:

“I base my plan on the same fundamentals and the same basics in all three of the formats that I play in,” the UK Telegraph quoted de Villiers as saying.

“I’ve never changed that. The only thing that changes is my mindset a little bit at times,” he added.

“I’ve always kept it very simple. I’m a big believer that basics stay the same for all the formats. I don’t overthink things. I want my mind to be 100 per cent clear, so I try not to think about too many things. I’ll have a bit of a pre-ball routine. I’ll make my mark, and then once I switch on and the bowler’s coming in, I try and think of absolutely nothing,” he maintained.

“I try and make sure that I see the ball coming out of the bowler’s hands, and then my technique and my body take over. I clear my mind and see the ball out of the bowler’s hand – that’s all I think about in all three of the formats,” he further added.

Mr 360 reveals his favourite Test ton at Port Elizabeth against Australia:

Mr 360 further believed that it is still possible to have a successful career in all three formats of the game. He added that the Test format gave him the utmost satisfaction with runs against Australia giving much the most joy.

“I think my most memorable knocks have always been in the longer version of the game – Test cricket – and none better than that last hundred that I scored in PE (Port Elizabeth) against the Australians,” de Villiers stated.

“That was the most enjoyable series in my life. I had doubts that I would come back, I always wanted to just come and play for another season or two,” he asserted.

“I wasn’t 100 per cent sure that I’m going to finish after the Australian series, but the plan was to come back, and I’m really proud of the fact that I could come back and played two of my best series for my country,” he added.