Dale Steyn defends AB de Villiers’ decision to hang up his boots

South African quick Dale Steyn has come to the defence of his former colleague AB de Villiers saying that the fans should respect the latter’s decision to retire from international cricket. De Villiers decided to hang up his boots in May this year citing tiredness and said the time was right for him to bring an end to a career spanning 14 years. The batsman’s decision left several fans disappointed especially with the next World Cup less than a year away.

Steyn, who made his Test debut with de Villiers in the same match against England at Port Elizabeth in 2004, spoke on the matter during an exclusive interview to South Africa’s Sports24 this week. The 35-year-old fast bowler needs just one Test wicket to become South Africa’s highest wicket-taker in the format, bettering the record held by Shaun Pollock (421) though he has already played 20 matches more than the latter.

AB doesn’t deserve to get a bad rap

“I believe AB doesn’t deserve to get a bad rap. Even though we both made our Test debuts in 2004, him and I are in two completely different boats. He is married with children and I only have dogs. Family time is a big pull for him right now. We spend on average 220 days of the year out of the country. It’s a long time to be away from your family especially when your children are growing up,” Steyn was quoted as saying.

Calling de Villiers a “phenomenal player”, Steyn said: “The pleasing aspect is the Proteas have managed to win without him. It’s nice that the circle (of talent) is getting bigger and there is hope for the future. Calling time on his international career has also given AB time to recover from a physical point of view. His back had been giving him trouble for so many years. Through sheer pride of representing South Africa, he pushed on.”

De Villiers is the second highest run-scorer for the Proteas in the ODIs and T20Is and fourth highest scorer in Tests. He, however, is expected to play in the Indian Premier League and other T20 leagues for a few more seasons. The 34-year-old scored 8,765 runs in 114 Tests with 22 centuries (average 50.66), 9,577 runs in 228 ODIs including 25 centuries and 1,672 runs in 78 T20Is with 10 fifties.

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