"Started really losing vision in the right eye" - AB de Villiers' shocking revelation
Former South African captain AB de Villiers has made the shocking revelation of playing with an eye injury in the last two years of his career. The keeper-batter disclosed that the doctor was surprised to see him play with only his left eye.
De Villiers retired from international cricket in 2018 but continued to play in the Indian Premier League until 2021. The 39-year-old played his final IPL game against the Kolkata Knight Riders in the playoffs of the 2021 edition, which RCB lost.
Speaking to The Wisden, the star cricketer recalled how his eye injury affected his career.
"My youngster accidentally kicked me on my eye with his heel. I started really losing vision in the right eye.
"When I got the surgery done, the doctor actually asked me, ‘How in the world did you play cricket like this?’. Luckily, my left eye did a decent job for the last two years of my career."
Along with being an international great, the right-hander has outstanding numbers in the IPL. De Villiers smashed 5162 runs in 184 games at 39.71 and a strike rate of 151.69.
"That 2015 World Cup hurt big time" - AB de Villiers
De Villiers added that things weren't same after the 2015 World Cup semifinal loss and that he didn't feel the same culture.
"Covid certainly played a role. There’s no doubt about it. From an international perspective, that 2015 World Cup hurt big time.
"It took me a while to get over that, and, then, when I got back into the side and I was ready to commit, I didn’t feel the same culture that I really needed at that time."
The veteran suggested that the Test series wins over India and Australia in 2018 were hugely memorable:
"I often found myself thinking, I don’t know, eh? Could this be the end of my career? I didn’t even really want to play IPL or anything else. I got away from everything in 2018 and then decided to push one more time with a bit of Test cricket, to try and beat India and Australia over here, and then I’ll call it.
"I didn’t want any spotlight on me. I just wanted to say, ‘I had a great time, thank you very much’.”
The former South African captain will likely join RCB's coaching staff in the near future.