Why ABD's Retirement Came At The Wrong Time
Abraham Benjamin de Villiers' retirement announcement was a bolt from the blue for the world cricketing fraternity and has rightly sent social media into a pandemonium. Riding on the back of a stellar IPL season being the leading runscorer for Royal Challengers Bangalore, no one expected ABD to hang up his boots with the 2019 World cup exactly a year away.
His fans have been left gasping for breath following the announcement and numerous reasons reiterate that this may not have been the best time to call it a day on one of the most illustrious limited overs career of the 21st century.
Here are five reasons why this move seems too premature.
#1 Age and fitness
ABD just turned 34 this March and going by the standards of the giants who have walked before him, he has at least four years of cricket left within him. In comparison, MS Dhoni turns 37 this year and in all probability, will go on to play at least a year more.
With his truckload of experience in the international circuit, he still has a lot to offer to a transitioning South African team. ABD is still fit as a fiddle and a live wire in the outfield, just like his spirit predecessor Jonty Rhodes, as recently highlighted by his superhuman catch for RCB.
The panache with which he throws himself to stop that extra run from being scored or to grab on to those half chances thrown at him and the voracity with which he scampers in between the wickets to squeeze every last run out of a shot makes us wonder why someone as dedicated as this, would quit the game so early.