AB de Villiers retirement leaves more questions than answers
"He could have made a huge difference in the World Cup and he knows that,” Proteas coach Ottis Gibson.
Last week AB de Villiers shocked the world when he announced his retirement from international cricket.
The 34-year-old Pretoria-based star had been in fine form since the beginning of the year helping his side to test victories over India and Australia.
So many questioned his decision given the upcoming ICC World Cup was just a year away.
De Villiers had previously said he wanted to retire after next year’s showpiece but after playing some of his best cricket in the last five months, announced his reason for calling it a day was fatigue.
True that world cup cant define you, but a genius like you need a big tournament to exit, atleast your fans will be prepared for that and playing for 1 more year for SA
will give you even more glory than what you have achieved so far— Praveen Paliwal (@praveenpaliwal1) May 27, 2018
Proteas coach Ottis Gibson said he had tried to get de Villiers to reverse his decision until after the World Cup but failed.
“The announcement came as a shock to me but we had a conversation. He called me the morning before the announcement and told me what he was planning to do‚” Gibson said at a press conference.
“I did say to him‚ ‘What about giving away Test cricket and still playing one-day cricket with the World Cup coming up. He said he’s spoken about it with all the people he needed to speak to‚ and there’s no point in me trying to get him to change his mind.”
Gibson said there was nothing he could have said that would have convinced De Villiers to change his mind.
De Villiers made his come back to international cricket in superb style to lead the run scorer charts for the Proteas in both test series early this year.
But with the man known as Mr. 360 announcing his departure, SA Cricket will need to restructure the team while looking for the ‘next de Villiers.’
Gibson said he was extremely disappointed the retirement had left a few things hanging.
“I need to get the team together and move on, sport moves on. Of course, it’s disappointing. He’s one of the best players in the world. He could have made a huge difference in the World Cup and he knows that,” he said.
In a tweet, Pronay Basak asked De Villiers to reconsider.
“You did it for 12 years. We are not asking for 3 or even 2, Just 1 more year till the 2019 World Cup. Please rethink your decision,” he said.
I really think AB De Villiers has retired because of match fixing or something shady. Just doesn’t make sense that he’d retire a year before the World Cup.
— Sguz (@Sguznana_11) May 30, 2018
AB devillers I am from India and I am die heart fan of you. Please take your retirement decision back. Want to see you lift world cup for SA. SA will be a weak team without. Please please take your retirement decision back
— Rohith lalith (@RohithLalith) May 27, 2018
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