AB de Villiers says, a near death experience made him believe in spirituality

There is little denying the fact that AB de Villiers is one of the most devastating batsmen in the history of the game. The former South Africa skipper scored a staggering 20,014 runs across formats in international cricket. What was even more impressive was the way he batted, taking the bowlers to the cleaners. De Villiers holds the record for the fastest 50, fastest 100 and fastest 150 in ODIs.

Seeing De Villiers destroy the opposition in a blink of an eye can make anyone feel that he is a tough character on and off the field. However, the legendary batsman has recently a different facet of his charming personality. De Villiers recently made an appearance on chat show Breakfast with Champions and opened up on his spiritual side. The right-handed batsman said that he has a spiritual side as he revealed how he discovered it. De Villiers revealed ‘a couple of moments’ that changed his perception towards life and made him feel the presence of god.

“I think every person has got to come to a stage in their lives where they find it themselves, you know. For me, there were a couple of moments. I was in the back of a car, with my family driving back from a Sunday lunch. And I had this moment. This connection. It happened again in Sydney on a boat. Ten-hour fishing trip with the Morkel brothers,” said De Villiers.

“I got sick after two hours and for eight hours I was lying on the top deck, literally feeling like I was going to die.
And there was a moment there again. So, there were two huge moments in my life. Spiritually where I could feel the presence of God,” he added.

De Villiers on retirement

AB de Villiers, who retired from the international circuit last year, also said he would have loved to push on longer. But at the same time, he was quick to point it out that he had a great run in international cricket.

“I wish I could push on longer, but like I said at the start. I had a great run. I had so much fun. I really did, and more dreams came true than I could ever imagine. And there were lots of heartbreaks as well along the way. And that’s the great ride we all go through,” said de Villiers.

Here is the full episode