AB de Villiers Announces Retirement from all Forms of Cricket. A look back at spectacular career, stats & achievements

The South Africa cricket were boosted by the players like Jacques Kallis, Makhaya Ntini, Shaun Pollock, Graeme Smith, Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, and Ab De Villiers who helped the team to gain stature in world cricket. One such player Ab De Villiers was brilliant to be the backbone of the middle order, and did wicket keeping for few years and was a gun fielder as well. He found success in the Indian Premier League 2021 with Royal Challengers Bangalore as well. But the latest announcement regarding the cricketer would shock the cricket fans.

AB de Villiers Announces Retirement from all forms of Cricket

Often called as Mr.360, Ab De Villiers has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. In a series of tweets, Ab De Villiers thanked his teammates, family, coaches for the support.

It has been an incredible journey, but I have decided to retire from all cricket.

Ever since the back yard matches with my older brothers, I have played the game with pure enjoyment and unbridled enthusiasm. Now, at the age of 37, that flame no longer burns so brightly. pic.twitter.com/W1Z41wFeli

— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) November 19, 2021

This move will certainly mean Ab De Villiers will not be a part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore team from the Indian Premier League 2022 as well. This was quite evident, as he did not had a good run in the IPL 2021.

AB de Villiers Retirement Twitter Reactions

The RCB franchise posted a video of AB announcing his retirement,

“I’m going to be an RCBian for life. Every single person in the RCB set-up has become family to me. People come & go, but the spirit & the love we have for each other at RCB will always remain. I’ve become half Indian now & I’m proud of that.” – @ABdeVilliers17 #ThankYouAB pic.twitter.com/5b6RUYfjDY

— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) November 19, 2021

The Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli tweeted for Ab De Villiers

This hurts my heart but I know you’ve made the best decision for yourself and your family like you’ve always done. ?I love you ? @ABdeVilliers17

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) November 19, 2021

Jos Buttler, Jason Roy, and Dale Steyn congratulated De Villiers on his career as well.

Truly the greatest, Happy retirement @ABdeVilliers17 ? pic.twitter.com/HvSDDTv7NP

— India Fantasy (@india_fantasy) November 19, 2021

Google CEO Sundar Pichai said Ab De Villiers was his favourite,

What a legacy, one of my favorites to watch ever! https://t.co/LxAsM8NVRP

— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) November 19, 2021

The former England Cricketer Michael Vaughan also has his say,

Absolutely loved watching @ABdeVilliers17 play the game .. You could argue across all formats that he was as good on the eye of anyone who has played the game .. #ABDevilliers #Legend

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) November 19, 2021

AB De Villiers Career Stats and Achievements

AB had a fantastic career across all the 3 formats of the game. He finished with 50+ averages in the ODI and Test format. In his international career, he hit 47 centuries and will be an inspiration to young cricketers around the country. He last played for the South Africa team in a test fixture against Australia in Februrary 2018.

In the later half of his career, he focused on playing in the shortest format of the game, and amassed a total of 9424 runs at an average of 37.24.

Format	Matches	Runs	Average	50/100
T20	340	9424	37.24	4
ODI	228	9577	53.50	53/25
Test	114	8765	50.66	46/22

Career Awards and Achievements

Ab received the following awards by ICC:

ICC ODI Player of the Year award 2010
ICC ODI Player of the Year Award 2014
ICC ODI Player of the Year Award 2015

Achievements:

Scored Fastest 50, 100 and 150 in an ODI innings off 31 balls in 2015 World Cup against West Indies.
Third Fastest South Africa to player to reach 1000 Runs in Test matches.
Highest T20 Partnership with Virat Kohli of 229 runs in IPL 2016.
Took most catches (19) in a single IPL season of 2016.