5 factors that might have influenced AB de Villiers’ shocking retirement
Former South Africa Test captain AB de Villiers said he "ran out of gas" when he announced his retirement from international cricket on May 23, leaving fans across the world in a state of shock. Not many had apprehended this news, especially not before the World Cup 2019.
"I've had my turn and, to be honest, I'm tired," he said. "This is a tough decision. I've thought long and hard about it and I'd like to retire still playing decent cricket. It would not be right for me to pick and choose where, when and in what format I play for the Proteas. For me, in green and gold, it must be everything or nothing," he concluded.
On this note, here we analyze 5 possible reasons why the greatest ODI batsman of this era suddenly put down his papers.
#5 Rigours of international cricket
AB de Villiers has been playing non-stop cricket since January this year. The South Africa home series generally ends in March and the Indian Premier League starts in April. That, as de Villiers himself said, can become really taxing.
de Villiers made his international debut in the Test series against England in 2004 and a year later made his ODI debut as well. The elegant batsman scored 8,765 Test runs for South Africa and boasts of a batting average in excess of 50 in both Test and ODI cricket.