South African batting great AB de Villiers said that in case he decides to return to the game, he would love to compete with modern-era T20 players like Suryakumar Yadav and his former RCB teammate Virat Kohli.
Considered to be one of the most innovative and naturally gifted batters the world has ever seen, AB de Villiers had a chequered career for South Africa from 2004 to his shock retirement in 2018.
He played 114 Tests, scoring 8765 runs with 22 centuries, and then in 228 ODIs, he made 9577 runs with 25 centuries to his name. He also made 1672 runs in 78 T20Is with 10 fifties to his name. He still holds the record for the fastest fifty, hundred, and 150 in ODI cricket.
Apart from this, he played in the IPL as well for Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore, scoring 5162 runs in 184 matches with an average of 39.71. He retired from the IPL after the 2021 edition of the tournament citing lack of drive to play cricket anymore.
“If I Come Back, I’ll Want To Compete With Suryakumar Yadav And Virat Kohli”- AB De Villiers
AB de Villiers was recently asked by Robin Uthappa in an interview on Jio Cinema, if he ever takes some time to reflect on his limited remaining years. In response, he said that although it was still possible, he wanted to compete with players like Suryakumar Yadav and Virat Kohli if he did play again.
“Definitely. I could still play. But the drive is not there anymore. Robbie, from a young age. It’s always just about being the best. I want to be the best if I come back and I’ll want to compete with Surya and Kohli and I just felt the last four years of my career not playing international cricket. I definitely didn’t play enough cricket towards the back end of my career. I think that was the main thing. With this Impact Player I know a lot of people are celebrating it, it’s going to lengthen the careers of players,”De Villiers said.
“To me, I could never do that. I could never just play two or three months of the year because I want to be the best in the world, and you can’t do that if you play for three months of the years. Absolutely no chance. Yes. You can practice for nine months. But nothing, nothing compares with middle practice with being out there and competition.
So, with the minute that fire went off being the best in the world, I felt like, what? What am I doing? So, what exactly is going on now? So was tough the last few years in that regard as well. I felt like, you know what, I can still have my super knock here and there, but I don’t want to do that. I want to be the best”, he added.
AB de Villiers was recently inducted into the RCB Hall of Fame along with Chris Gayle before the IPL 2023 tournament.