AB de Villiers hopeful of extending his Test career

AB de Villiers is regarded as one South Africa’s greatest cricketers to have played the game. He has successfully plied his trade across the globe and has grown in stature over the years. He has been a feared prospect among bowlers and rightly so, bearing in mind his stupendous abilities with the willow. However, the cricketer went through a rough patch, especially in Test cricket. He was sidelined from the Test squad for nearly a couple of years.

Nevertheless, the Pretoria-born cricketer made a comeback in the longest format of the game in South Africa’s one-off Day/Night Test against Zimbabwe at Port Elizabeth. The swashbuckling cricketer also enacted a vital role in the Proteas’ victorious campaign against India in the three-match Test series. Recently, de Villiers spoke to the media and expressed his desires to continue playing Test cricket.

AB’s goal of prolonging his Test career

Meanwhile, he also emphasized the competitive element of the Test series against Virat Kohli’s India. “The Indian Test series was one of the biggest ones I’ve have played in when it comes to intensity and heat out there. Obviously, it [against Australia] is a big series. We haven’t beaten Australia at home. I am taking it one game at a time, I can’t afford to look too far ahead. Loving my cricket, I am loving the environment and hopefully it will continue for a long time,” AB was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

South Africa is currently playing Australia in the first Test at the Kingsmead in Durban. After dismissing Australia for 351 runs, the Proteas were shot out of 161 runs owing to Mitchell Starc’s five-wicket haul. De Villiers played a brilliant hand of 71 runs, but couldn’t save his team from conceding a mammoth lead to the Kangaroos.

“I’m not sure what I did differently. I just felt really good leading up to this Test in the nets, did some really good things in the nets, and I felt confident going into the Test. You don’t always feel that way in Test cricket. I was very motivated to score some runs. Not enough partnerships. That’s the key to our downfall. No real good partnerships that absorbed the pressure enough,” he added