AB de Villiers will be missed, but it may be the right time for him to move on
Abraham Benjamin de Villiers could well have been remembered as another player in a long line of extremely successful Afrikaner cricket players in South Africa. But he was not just an ordinary player, the very fact that he chose cricket over the multitude of sports he excelled at as a schoolboy speaks volumes about his talent and the popularity of the sport among young boys from the Afrikaner community, in part inspired by the success of the South Africa team following its readmission into cricket as well as Afrikaner players like Hansie Cronje, who would later be disgraced in a betting scandal. That was possibly a cautionary tale for the emerging ‘ABD’ as his fans would call him, and he along with most South Africans of his generation went on to have a squeaky-clean reputation.
His retirement from international cricket while a surprise was on the cards after he took a two-year hiatus from the Test side and returned for the India and Australia series earlier this year. He was criticised by some in South Africa for ‘picking and choosing’ which series he wanted to play in, although he had a pivotal role in helping the Proteas win both series. Many aficionados however did expect him to stay on the one-day international team until the 2019 World Cup in England and help South African cricket achieve the one goal that they have failed at in the 20-odd years after being readmitted into the sport, that is to lift an international trophy. In fact, the Proteas have acquired a reputation as ‘chokers’ in the sport, exemplified by the 1999 World Cup semi-final between South Africa and Australia where the Proteas snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
By calling time on his career ahead of the 2019 World Cup, ABD might feel that he is giving South African cricket, which possibly has the most racially inclusive team of any South African sporta chance to blood some new talent. It also possibly highlights his feeling that South Africa stands little chance of winning the tournament. At the same time, the lucre from the proliferation of global T20 cricket leagues is too much to ignore for even someone like him. ABD’s popularity in his adopted Indian home-town of Bengaluru is second only to Virat Kohli, and his appearance in several Indian advertising campaigns is proof that he is one of those rare international players genuinely admired across India. A recently catch he took on the boundary during the Indian Premier league where he was dubbed as ‘Spiderman’ only served to enhance his popularity. However, no matter how popular franchise T20 cricket becomes, international cricket remains the big daddy of the sport, and it will be a pity to see ABD not wear the Protea logo anymore.