I’m Very Happy To Have Stepped Away, Absolutely No Regrets, Says AB de Villiers On International Retirement

Former South Africa skipper AB de Villiers has said he is a relieved man after quitting international cricketer earlier this year.

It was all going well for de Villiers as far as the game was concerned.  He helped South Africa beat India and Australia in Test series at home this year. He was the standout performer for his side as he played all the seven Tests. The legendary batsman scored six fifties and a hundred in the seven Tests and was instrumental to South Africa’s success.

It was followed by a productive outing in the Indian Premier League. The right-handed batsman was the second highest run-scorer for his side, amassing 480 runs in 12 outings with the help of 6 fifties.  The form convinced many that de Villiers is set to ply his trade in international cricket for at least the next World Cup in 2019.

However,  on a fine May morning this year, a ‘tired’ de Villiers decided he had no more motivation left in him to play international cricket. On May 23, the Proteas star dropped the bombshell by announcing his retirement from all forms of the game with immediate effect.

And the 34-year old has once again said he does not regret retiring at such a young age.

“It’s been unbearable at times: the pressure you have to face, performing day in and day out. The expectations that you put on yourself, from fans, from the country, from coaches. It is huge, and it’s something that’s on your mind all the time as a cricketer. And it’s definitely something that I’m not going to miss. I’m very happy to have stepped away. Absolutely no regrets,” he told The Independent.

“I was prepared to embrace it, to fight the pressure,” he added. “And I’m happy that I did. But it certainly takes his toll after a while. I feel there is room for players to be more honest about it, having systems in place to make sure they keep fresh and mentally healthy. I was certainly not mentally ill at the time. But I can relate to the fact that pressure can really drive you down, and make you so tired.”

De Villiers went on to say that he would continue playing cricket for some more years.

“I’m still going to play for a few years; I’ll still play a little bit around the world. But on my own terms,” he assured.

De Villiers will go down as one of the finest ever batsmen in the history of the game. No matter what the format was or what the conditions were, he rarely failed. If his traditional stroke-play made the traditionalists drool then his scarcely-believable wide array of unorthodox shots left this generation gasping for breath,

He scored a staggering 20,014 international runs (8765 in Tests, 9577 in ODIs and 1672 in T20Is). He also finished his career with a batting average over 50 in both Tests, and ODIs.

The right-hander also holds the record for the fastest 50, fastest 100 and fastest 150 in ODIs, all coming against the Windies. He smashed a 31-ball 100 in Johannesburg in 2015 and hit a 66-ball 162 in the 2015 World Cup encounter in Sydney.