AB de Villiers feels that all hope is gone after loss against England
South Africa just got decimated for a mere 83 runs by England in their second innings. They lost by seven wickets and have also lost the series. AB de Villiers was asked if this will influence his career going forward, as there have been rumours about his future in Test Cricket.
"I was never thinking of leaving Test cricket at all. I was just to find a way to rest a little bit throughout the year," de Villiers said. "Lots of thoughts have been crossing my mind but this [defeat] has got absolutely no influence on that."
"Playing on the cricket pitch has never been an issue for me, it's just a matter of keeping myself fresh. It's really tough to stay on top of your game if you play up to 12 months a year."
It didn't help that South Africa were without players such as Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, JP Duminy and Quinton de Kock. But de Villiers wasn't about to use that as an excuse.
"The players we have are not really the issue, there's still something to work with there," he said. "The talent is there, it's just a matter of finding consistency and applying pressure more often."
De Villiers added that South Africa's inability to secure momentum played a role in their loss. "They kept applying the pressure. I guess when momentum is on your side, things tend to happen that way. Credit to them for creating that kind of pressure."
De Villiers wasn't feeling optimistic after losing the series and along with it losing their test ranking.
"I almost feel like all hope is gone. I'm still the kind of guy that will get myself going for that last Test match, and get the team going," he said. "I felt we were in the game lots of times throughout the Test match and just didn't grab those opportunities."
He acknowledged the main reason why South Africa have been struggling. "We're not the same side anymore," he said. "There are lots of different players. We're still up there in the rankings, but that means absolutely nothing. I believe our form of late has been really poor and it will take something really special to turn it around.
De Villiers has taken it upon himself to mentor the younger players to field a stronger side. "It's a big responsibility for me, and a great opportunity to have an influence on younger players. I would love to walk away from the game knowing I've had an influence on the young guys turning into senior players in the team," de Villiers said.
However despondent de Villiers may have been feeling, he took it upon himself to keep an upbeat atmosphere in the locker room.
"There's a group of about four or five players that have the responsibility on their shoulders, and it's important for us to keep things intact. And to keep the hope going. I'd love to be captain, I'm hopefully still captain in the next game, we'll see." he added.
At the end of the day De Villiers gave credit where credit is due. He credited the bowling of the England team for putting South Africa on the back foot.
"That's some of the best bowling I've faced from their whole unit. Conditions suited them really well and they made full use of that," he said. "They asked a lot of questions, right throughout our innings. They didn't ask as many questions in the first innings and that's where I thought we missed a trick.”