Thank You, AB de Villiers

One of the saddest days for the cricketing fraternity - 23rd May 2018, the day when the most adored cricketer in the world, AB de Villiers bid goodbye to international cricket.  

The South-African legend, Abraham Benjamin de Villiers announced his decision to retire from international cricket via a video message he had posted on his Twitter handle yesterday evening. The 34-year-old Proteas batsman said that the time is right for him to bring a close to a 14-year astounding career. 

AB's retirement from international cricket is the most appalling news of the summer as there seemed to be no signs of him slowing down, at least in limited-overs cricket. He was in his usual beast-mode this year in the IPL, where he amassed a total of 480 runs in 12 matches for RCB. There seemed to be no fitness concerns either, as we saw that supercalifragilisticexpialidocious catch of Alex Hales on the boundary rope, that left everybody awe-struck!

Mr 360°

He's accomplished everything as a batsman, touching heights of individual prestige, but he could not achieve his ultimate goal - winning an ICC tournament for his country. The miserable memories of 2015 & 2017 might have been a little too much, even for de Villiers. Nobody can forget the teary-eyed South African team after the semi-final loss against the Black Caps in the 2015 World Cup. 

However, AB has left us with some special memories too. Who can forget the way AB played against Dale Steyn (the world's premier fast bowler at that time), where Mr. 360° smashed his South African compatriot all around the park for 22 runs in an over, which made Steyn clap for him as well. 

And what about that mind-boggling knock at the Wanderers on 18 January 2015, where de Villiers scored 149 runs in just 44 balls, sending the ball over the ropes for 25 times! Here are a few records held by Superman-Spiderman-ABMan:

• Shares the record of most sixes in an ODI inning with Rohit Sharma (16 vs West Indies)
• Fastest 50 in ODI cricket (16 balls vs West Indies)
• Fastest 100 in ODI cricket (31 balls vs West Indies)
• Fastest 150 in ODI cricket (64 balls vs West Indies)
• Most sixes in a calendar year (58) 
• Leading run-scorer for South Africa in World Cups (1207)
• Averaging above 50 in ODI cricket for 8 consecutive years, leaving 2018
• Most Test innings for South Africa without a duck (78)
• 20,014 international runs 
• 47 international centuries

You will surely be missed AB. You will always be remembered as a revolutionary who redefined the art of batting. International cricket will become poorer without you. I really wish that you reverse your decision to quit and go out to conquer the world in 2019 in England... 

Cheers,

Sparsh