SA vs AUS 2018: It Was Right up There with the Best Feeling Ever- AB de Villiers
Updated - 12 Mar 2018, 02:06 PM
AB de Villiers answered all his critics with an unbeaten knock of 126 runs during the second Test at Port Elizabeth.
Meanwhile, de Villiers was out of the Test team for two years for various reasons. However, South African team management had his back and assured him his place in the side.
Now, de Villiers registered his first hundred since his return to Test cricket. Further, he was also the highest run-scorer in the Test series against India, but he didn’t feel properly back.
Motivated to prove people:
De Villiers admitted he wanted to prove people he can still play the game.
“I came into this series and the previous one against India feeling like I need to play again, to make sure I keep my spot in the team. I haven’t played for a while, and you’re always just a couple of innings away from people starting to say, ‘Is he still good enough?’ so those kind of things were on my mind,” de Villiers said.
While his close friends like Graeme Smith and Faf du Plessis thought he would retire, de Villiers did not. He mentioned he still loves the game but felt tired citing a lot of reasons.
Meanwhile, he used this time to introspect and play white-ball cricket. Further, he decided to step down as an ODI captain focus his goals on “being part of a successful Test team” among other things like the 2019 World Cup.
It was right up there with the best feeling ever:
Stating it is still the purest form of cricket his love for the game was always there. Talking about his game, de Villiers mentioned it was right up there with the best feeling ever. Also, he added,
“It was ten on ten. It was right up there with the best feeling ever. I was so relieved, I was very nervous in the 90s, I don’t think it showed, but I was telling Vern out there that I was struggling to breathe and my legs literally went numb. It’s funny when a guy who has played for 13 or 14 years says that, but it’s true,” de Villiers said.
“It really meant a lot to me to get that hundred, and I was constantly reminding myself throughout the 90s that it’s not about yourself. It’s about contributing to the team as much as possible, that made me feel a little bit better because the minute you focus too much on individual performance, you sort of forget about the team. But it’s difficult to forget about the team when you haven’t scored a hundred for three years. So it meant a lot to me today,” he added.
Further, de Villiers was quick to switch to his selfless mode. He credited Vernon Philander and Keshav Maharaj for helping him to get to the hundred. Meanwhile, de Villiers shared stands of 84 and 58, respectively with both the batsmen.
“I could go out and focus on my technique, focus on what I was doing yesterday and try and get myself into the game. I never felt like I needed to score to get us somewhere,” he concluded.
Further, here is the newsfeed:
BCB hopeful to appoint head coach by next month
Tagged:
South Africa Vs Australia 2018
