I don’t think there will be another AB de Villiers for a while: Barry Richards

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South Africa legend Barry Richards lauded AB de Villiers, who announced his retirement on Wednesday, and also expressed his disappointment about the fact that ABD doesn’t have a World Cup title under his belt.

In an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda, the 72-year-old stated that he doesn’t think there will be another de Villiers for a while. He further stated that both ABD and Jacques Kallis deserved to win a World Cup.

Excerpts:

What’s your reaction to ABD’s retirement?

Hats off to him. He has had a great career. It’s obviously difficult for a team when a great player retires. How would India react if Virat Kohli announces his retirement, it’s the same thing for South Africa. He has been around for 15 years. He has been a wonderful servant not just for South Africa but to cricket (on the whole).

ABD doesn’t have a World Cup title…

I’m sad that he doesn’t have a WC title. I’m sad that Jacques Kallis doesn’t have one. Both of them deserve it. But life sometimes isn’t a fairy tale. Sometimes things happen that should happen. Sometimes there is disappointment in life and that’s (not winning a WC) one of them for AB. But he has had a great career.

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Do you think he could have waited for the next World Cup before making this announcement?

The thing is in white ball cricket anything can happen. If he doesn’t win a World Cup, one would say…wait till the next one, wait for the next one. Eventually, there is a time when you say, it’s time to retire. If you haven’t fulfilled all your dreams then it’s just one of those things. What happens if SA don’t win the next World Cup?

Do you think South Africa can produce another ABD?

Graeme Pollock was a similar player. There have been some great players. When Jacques Kallis retired, no one knew what was going to happen. But everybody moves on. You got to move on. There is nothing else you can do. I don’t think there will be another ABD for a while. You never know though there could be someone in the U11s lurking somewhere. We just don’t know.