Like many, watching AB De Villiers announce his retirement on Wednesday left me stunned. He didn’t take the normal routine of organizing a press conference, as is the norm. Instead, he tweeted a video via his Twitter account. Which meant that it didn’t give his fans the contentment of watching him play a farewell test or one-day series, as is the routine. Much like the batting that he’s known for, AB De Villers bid goodbye in the most unconventional of methods.
The realization that you’ll never get to watch a cricketer take the field again hits you harder when you have grown up watching them play. Right from their debut, to the first time they showed a glimpse of their genius, to their first match-winning performance, and finally to their retirement, you feel like you have been a part of a player’s journey. Maybe which is why you take so much joy when they hit a purple patch, and feel the blues when they are out of form. Thankfully AB was always a player who was always in-form.
There was something about AB that made you want to be like him, not AB the cricketer, but AB the person. Modest and unassuming, there aren’t many cricketers that are adored as much as AB. It hasn’t even been a week since he took a stunning catch at an IPL game. And it is that image he will leave us with.
Had I been younger and with fewer priorities, I may have shed a tear over his retirement, lamenting the fact that South Africa may no longer be strong contenders for the world cup next year. A part of me would have wanted him to come back. But just as AB has realized that there is more to life than winning a world cup; so have I. And like many others, I wish him well in his new innings.
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