Yuzi we all know is intelligent, you were the actual reason why I retired: AB de Villiers

Former South Africa legend and batter AB de Villiers retired from international cricket but entertained his fans by playing in the reputed T20 leagues including the IPL. As a result, it comes as no surprise that he shares a nice rapport with several Indian cricket stars. Recently, he struck the right chord with his former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) teammate, Yuzvendra Chahal, and discussed a plethora of things around cricket during his '360 Show'.

Surprisingly, during the candid interaction, the former Protea legend revealed that back in 2018, when India toured South Africa, the willy leg spinner in Chahal got the better of him more often than not. De Villiers recalled an ODI game which was played in Centurion and hilariously said that it was the Indian spin wizard's chess-minded brilliance which led him to bid adieu to his international cricket career.

"I was playing in my home ground in Centurion and I remember it was very hot. I was tired batting on 30-odd and I thought I would get some easy boundaries. However, Yuzi we all know is intelligent. He is a chess player. He knew what I was trying to do and zipped one through. I still remember the sound of the bails. So thank you so much for that Yuzi. You were the actual reason why I retired. I am your bunny now," de Villiers playfully said on his YouTube channel.

Interestingly enough, before AB de Villiers elaborated on India's tour, Yuzvendra Chahal clearly made de Villiers aware of the fact that it was his first tour to the 'Rainbow Nation'. Notably, along with his spin counterpart, Kuldeep Yadav, Chahal tormented the Proteas' batting lineup as Team India went on to clinch the series in a dominating (5-1) fashion. As a result, this subsided the common notion for visiting teams that life was tough for spin bowlers in South Africa.

"I still remember my first tour of South Africa in 2018. It was a huge boost for me and Kuldeep because we bowled together for the first time abroad and there was this thought that it is tough to bowl there. But it was really memorable. Really excited to be coming back after five years," Chahal told ABD.

I love bounce and wickets in South Africa, you can always use variations as a weapon: Yuzvendra Chahal

Meanwhile, as Yuzvendra Chahal embarks on his latest tour to South Africa after five long years, it is worth mentioning that the ace leggie has a stellar bowling record at AB de Villiers' home. So far, the 33-year-old star has 18 victims from 9 appearances in the Rainbow country. Quite astonished by his remarkable consistency in his backyard, it was natural for AB de Villiers to bring the curiosity cat out of his bag and ended up asking Chahal about his 'secret weapon' that aided him in getting under the skin of South African batters.

To this, Yuzvendra Chahal replied back by saying that his strength has been bowling wicket to wicket line which always keeps a batter under pressure as he was always in the game if a batter misses the line or slog sweeps him. Moreover, he also used the bouncy nature of the South African wickets to his advantage and kept bowling with various trajectories and variations.

"I love bounce and wickets in South Africa and Australia have enough bounce. So you can always use variations as a weapon and knowing that batters will try to slog sweep you can always get that top edge. I always try to change my line. I also try to bowl stump-to-stump so when the batter plays, you have a chance," Chahal stated.