AB de Villiers reveals the moment he knew it was time to quit!

Former Proteas wicketkeeper-batsman AB de Villiers recently called time on his illustrious career, but that was a decision that was already made before its confirmation. 

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De Villiers retired from all forms of cricket late last year, having completely ruled out any possibility of returning to the Proteas fold months earlier. 

Proteas fans decided by the de Villiers international cricket retirement

That statement alone crushed the spirits of many a Proteas fan, who had been clinging on to any sight hope that, they would get to see de Villiers in the green and gold South African cricket jersey again. However, despite a year of publicly flirting with the idea of a sensational return, both CSA and de Villiers seemed to finally accept that his international career had come to an end. 

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That is, of course an incredible international career, which saw de Villiers represent the Proteas for 16 years at the highest level. In that period he amassed all of 114 Tests, 228 ODIs and 78 T20s for South Africa, doubling up as wicketkeeper-batsman. He was also no slouch on the field when deployed else where when not wearing the gloves behind the stumps. 

He left with a couple of records in his bag

But it was undoubtedly with the bat in hand where de Villiers made his name and shone the most for the Proteas. The 37-year-old notched up a mind-boggling 20,017 runs across all formats of the game for South Africa. He also holds the unique record of being the fastest batter to reach in 50, 100 and 150 in ODIs.

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Now speaking to TimesLIVE, de Villiers revealed that the decision to retire was already set in stone before it was announced to the world.

When he knew it was time to call it a day

“Cricketing wise, it has been coming for quite some time, it’s always been about enjoyment for me. And the minute where I felt the difficulty of travelling and being there at the IPL for two and half to three months a year, specifically with this one that was spilt into two, bubbles and this and that made things very complicated with regards to cricket and the enjoyment thereof.” Said de Villiers.

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De Villiers then made a startling revelation that, while the rest of the world enjoyed seeing the talented former batter racking up the runs on the park, the feeling was rather different for him. 

Did not enjoy making runs anymore

“I found myself on the park where scoring runs and doing well for the team didn’t really match with everything that goes with it any more and that’s where the balance started leading towards hanging my gloves up.I have never been the guy who is going to push every single bit of energy of my ability and my cricketing skill, I have always played for the enjoyment of the game. And the minute that sort of started going down, I knew it was time for me to move on.” Concluded de Villiers.

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Can you imagine that? A serial run scorer feeling numb to the sensation of a beautiful and memorable knock? Not matter how one feels about de Villiers, his contribution to not only the Proteas but the sport of cricket, deserved a better ending than that.