The most important people to please are your family: AB de Villiers on his sudden retirement

AB de Villiers’ has been a globetrotter since hanging up his boots from international cricket last year. The South Africa legend dropped a huge bombshell last year when he announced his retirement out of the blow despite going strong with the bat. His decision had come just days after he played a pivotal role in South Africa’s Test series wins over India and Australia before impressing for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League.

One of the all-time batting greats, De Villiers has been plying his trade in T20 leagues across the globe since retiring. In the last eight months or so, he has played in Caribbean Premier League, Mzansi Super League, Bangladesh Premier League and is currently playing for Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League. De Villiers is now all set to light up the grounds in England, having signed for Middlesex for the upcoming season of the T20 Blast.

De Villiers, nonetheless, has batted in his usual manner despite retiring from international cricket. So far, he has amassed 667 runs at an average of 41.7 with a strike-rate of 159 in the 21 games he has played after retiring. Speaking about his upcoming venture in T20 cricket, de Villiers said he is excited about it.

“It’s an experiment worth trying and might be the next big thing,” he was quoted as saying by CricketNext.

He further said he is enjoying the experience of playing away from the hustle and bustle of international cricket, “I’m definitely in the best place of my life so far,” he said. “There’s less pressure when you don’t play international cricket. It’s still there, but less. I am enjoying my cricket more now and the ability to take two or three months off when I want to get home. That’s refreshing.”

De Villiers at peace

De Villiers is one of the many legendary cricketers who did not win the World Cup despite achieving so much in the game. He retired from the game after scoring over 20,000 runs and helping South Africa achieve numerous accolades in the game. However, he could not win the World Cup with the semifinal appearance in 2007 and 2015 being the closest he came to winning the coveted trophy. However, he does not many complaints from it as he said that the World Cup would not define him.

“I’ve pretty much moved on. I’ve made peace with the fact that the World Cup will not define me. Yes, it would be nice to add that to what’s been a very enjoyable career, but I know it won’t define me as a person or cricketer,” he said.

“You can never keep everyone happy. I’ve always been a people pleaser. I’m very passionate about my country, but I’m at a stage of my life where I’ve moved on. There are people who think I should still be playing, but the international scene just became a little bit too much for me with my family and a few other things. You have to answer to yourself, look yourself in the mirror and that’s what I’ve done. The most important people to please are your family,” he added.

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