AB de Villiers is confident that the UAE T20 event will be beneficial for emerging players

South African cricket has produced a number of legendary cricketers over the years, Pretoria-born AB de Villiers is one of them. His international career spanned 14 years since 2004 after which he eventually hung his boots from the highest level back in May this year. Albeit he has retired for the Proteas, he will be seen wielding his magic across T20 events across the globe.

He is now expected to be seen in this year’s UAE T20X which is set to get underway from December 19 to January 11. The tournament launched by Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) will be a five-team competition. In the meantime, the 34-year-old believes that the league will be beneficial for the youngsters as they will have the privilege of rubbing shoulders with the best in the business.

I was a youngster when I started playing cricket

“The main thing that attracted me the most to this tournament is what it will do for young, emerging players. It will give them a great opportunity to play alongside some of the world’s best players,” de Villiers was quoted as saying by The National.

The right-handed batsman has a truckload of talent, playing in the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL). He has played 141 matches in the event in which he has racked 3953 runs at an average of 39.53. Recently, the former Proteas cricketer went down the memory lane to the time when he was a newbie and had the opportunity to hone his skills alongside the likes of legendary cricketers.

“Not long ago, I was a youngster when I started playing cricket. I made my IPL debut 10 or 11 years ago. One of my fondest memories of the tournament was spending time with guys like [former Australian cricketers] Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne – some legends of the game, who I did not have a reach-out to [before the IPL], you know,” he added.

[interaction id=”5b728cfccd0ad74de02714d5″]

For more news and developments, stay tuned on CricTracker.com.