AB de Villiers - The Last Gentleman of the Game Bids Adieu
A part of cricket died in all of us on May 23, 2018 when the 'Last Gentleman of the Game' AB de Villiers announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. Bowlers world over can breathe a sigh of relief, as the man known as 'Mr. 360' has hung up his boots, once and for all. His retirement came rather suddenly, shocking the cricket fraternity and fans worldwide.
AB was in fine form, scoring runs and pulling off impressive feats of athleticism, like only he can. In this edition of IPL, de Villiers amassed 480 runs at a blistering strike rate of 174.54.
One of the most loved cricketers across the globe; his absence will leave a huge void which will be highly difficult to fill. It is a devastating blow for the South African Cricket Team, who will sorely miss AB's presence on the field and in the locker room.
de Villiers made his international debut in 2004 against England. The cricketing world has not been the same since. In 114 tests and 228 ODIs, AB de Villiers has rendered bowling attacks obsolete, scoring runs consistently, at an average of over 50 in both formats.
Whenever South Africa was pushed to a corner, or was in a tough situation, AB was the man to come to the rescue. There have been numerous occasions wherein he has single-handedly saved his team from the jaws of defeat, and guided them to victory. His performance in the recently concluded Test series against India; his unbelievable knock at the WACA in 2008; the one at Leeds in 2008; and his exploits in the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup all come to mind.
He is the greatest cricketer in the world to have not won any major tournament. The world cried with De Villiers, after South Africa's loss to New Zealand in the semi-finals of the 2015 Cricket World Cup. It's rightly said, "One simply cannot have everything in life", not even if you are Ab de Villiers.
There is some respite for fans as de Villiers will continue playing in the IPL and the domestic league in South Africa. It must not go unnoticed that the reason cited by de Villiers for his early retirement at the age of 34 was tiredness and 'running out of gas'. This brings into the question the impact the various T 20 leagues have had on the careers of cricketers.
The franchises expect the cricketers to bring their A-game every time they step foot on the field, and rightly so. But these month-long tournaments take a lot of the cricketers, putting their health and longevity at risk. There is already enough international cricket to deal with, but with these domestic leagues, the pressure is simply too much to bear.
Cricket can be a cruel game at times; it'll give you new heroes and once you are truly in love with them, it'll take them away. So until a new hero emerges on the scene, we'll just pin all our hopes on Virat Kohli.
There are men and there are legends; AB de Villiers is simply both. We cannot thank him enough for the unbelievable highlight reel, his whole cricketing journey was.